Flummoxed as to what it is about then, right? it incontrovertibly pertains to pay in the sense that it is the average difference between the remuneration received by working men and women, often for doing the same job (but not necessarily). This includes salaries, bonuses and other financial benefits, no confusion here, but delving deep into the statement, is a much more nuanced and tangled concept than it seems. Taking it in its literal sense would be us telling euphemisms to ourselves in our heads, a practice with which most of us are thoroughly acclimatized with.
So, first thing’s first, let’s disillusion and enlighten ourselves at the same time with the concept of the gender pay gap. So, what exactly is it? What drives it and what does it mean to women? The gender pay gap is a measurable indicator of inequality between women and men. Most governments have legislated to guarantee parity of treatment between men and women in remuneration. It is one of the more visible examples of structural gender discrimination stemming from the horizontal and vertical segmentation of labour forces.
The ILO Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) is one of the most highly ratified conventions. Yet, the gender pay gap stubbornly persists and the World Economic Forum estimates that it will take 202 years to close the global gender pay gap, based on the trend observed over the past 12 years. It heartbreakingly reminds us that the road to equality is still very long.
It is an umbrella term of which pay is just an atom. It really only narrows the analysis to the potential role of gender discrimination along one dimension to differential pay for equivalent work to the other. It entails both outright discrimination and a complex web of factors that influence and constrain the options open to women, according to the American economist Laura Tyson. She pinpoints parenthood as the moment the gap widens, with mothers taking a wage penalty while fathers enjoy a premium.
From the struggles of women to put forth their opinions to their overexploitation to underrepresentation in senior positions and overrepresentation in low-paying jobs, it comprises everything. . Although many countries are aware of this issue and are working on it, this adage glass ceiling is still quite prevalent and does not cease to perdure. The issues concerning equality of sexes is not a festive phenomenon but a contentious topic that needs to be accentuated and prioritised as a matter of prime focus when it comes to addressing issues like GDP, SDG goals and the overall development of the country. Sustainable
the development will be an impossibility without the potential contributions from women.
The gender pay gap across developed, emerging and developing countries stands at 20 per cent, according to the latest estimate from the International Labour Organization (ILO). That means for every one dollar earned by a man around the world, a woman earns an average of 80 cents.
“Tremendous amounts of talent are being lost to our society just because that talent wears a skirt”, rightly said Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman in Congress. There are statistics galore that substantiate this statement.
A 2017 study by the Institute for Women's Policy Research found that the poverty rate of working women would be cut in half if women earned as much as men.
ActionAid, an international organization that strives to alleviate poverty, estimated equal pay would boost women's earnings in developing countries by $2 trillion. Beyond upping women's wages, increasing female participation in the labour force can also reap economic rewards. If as many women worked like men, the IMF estimated GDP would proliferate by 27 per cent in India.
No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens. Every time a woman is made to feel inferior or paid less, it’s not only an attack on her self esteem but also has a profound impact on her mental health, several studies and experts say. It is a frustrating, crippling and psychologically debilitating problem.
The request of women for maternity leave is often called an excuse, in many institutions, let alone their struggles with their work and care responsibilities. Recent research has highlighted motherhood as a leading reason behind wage discrepancies as more women take time off to raise children. The USA, widely known for its economic preponderance is the only OECD country without a national statutory paid maternity, paternity or parental leave. Why do people fail to comprehend and accept that women are the ones that keep a man going, be it mothers or sisters or wives. On the contrary, women are not as privileged as men to have the back of their families, oftentimes. They’re most motivated to do the household chores, take care of the family right from their childhood.
Women make about 82 cents for every $1 earned by a man, according to the National Women's Law Center. And it's even starker for most women of colour: Black women make 62 cents and Latinx women make 54 cents for every dollar a white man earns. Native American women earn 57 cents for every dollar. Asian-American women make 90 cents for every dollar.
Indeed, researches show that there's a strong correlation between the increased prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders in women and the higher percentage of psycho-social stressors present in women's lives, and those stressors include lower wages for the same work, discrimination and disadvantaged social status, says Maureen Sayres Van Niel, psychiatrist and president of the American Psychiatric Association. These harsh realities of our society exasperate cent women on an everyday basis. A 2019 study found that when mothers feel solely responsible for the household chores and their children because of the societal pressures, it strains their well-being, leads to feelings of emptiness, makes them feel less satisfied with their lives and relationships, thereby taking a toll on their overall health.
By now, all of us are completely cognizant of the fact that women are treated unequally and discriminated against, in almost every sector and we just can’t keep reiterating this over and over again or else we will be construed as “attention seekers”, a very hackneyed and hollow response which often strikes every woman who raises her voice for her rights or is unafraid to demand attention.
Working towards bridging this wide gap is the need of the hour which will require multifaceted solutions that together help ensure that the work women perform is valued fairly, that women are not penalized unfairly for their caregiving responsibilities, and that there is greater transparency in workplace pay practices.
Everyone gets sick, but not everyone has time to get better. Almost 70 million workers, or about 40 percent of the private-sector workforce, do not have access to any paid sick days. Paid sick days would help close the gender wage gap by ensuring that women, who most often care for sick family members, would not lose pay or their jobs just because they or their child fell ill. Furthermore, working women can be targeted for discrimination and denied job opportunities altogether because of negative stereotypes about their caregiving roles—stereotypes that men are less likely to face.
Parents need to educate sons and daughters so that they respect each other and are willing to share domestic work. Boys need to be taught not to reproduce expressions such as “This is a woman’s thing,” or denigrate certain professions or activities. Women make up a disproportionate share of low-wage workers, raising the minimum wage will help hard-working women better support their families.
A reduction in the pay gap will unequivocally also bolster women’s confidence and allow them to gain more responsibility at work and progress into leadership positions. Women are the largest reservoir of untapped talent in the world, and it can’t remain untapped or else our growth as a society will remain stalled, invariably.
Written By- Nandini Satija
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