{"id":29429,"date":"2019-02-01T11:16:58","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T16:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/?p=29429"},"modified":"2022-03-16T09:42:00","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T13:42:00","slug":"why-women-still-earn-a-lot-less-than-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/why-women-still-earn-a-lot-less-than-men\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Women Still Earn a Lot Less Than Men"},"content":{"rendered":"

A decade ago, on Jan. 29, 2009, newly inaugurated President Barack Obama signed his first bill into law: the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was the latest legislative effort to close the persistently stubborn gap between how much women and men earn. At the time, women made just 77 cents<\/a> of every dollar men earned \u2013 a level that hadn\u2019t improved all that much since the 1990s, according to Census data.<\/p>\n

While existing laws already prohibited gender-based wage discrimination, the Ledbetter Act gave workers more time to sue employers over the issue. And the hope was that it would make a big difference.<\/p>\n

So did it?<\/p>\n

My research<\/a> explores the legal hurdles that have prevented women from achieving pay equity with men. Now, 10 years after the act was passed, more work still needs to be done.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Obama hands out pens after signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.<\/span>
\nAP Photo\/Ron Edmonds<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ledbetter\u2019s complaint<\/h2>\n

The Ledbetter Act overturned a Supreme Court case<\/a> that ruled against Lilly Ledbetter, who worked as an area manager at Goodyear Tire and Rubber for more than 19 years. Over time, her pay slipped until she was earning 15 percent to 40 percent less than her male counterparts.<\/p>\n

When an anonymous note tipped her<\/a> off about the extent of the disparity, Ledbetter filed a pay discrimination complaint under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964<\/a>, a statute prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin and religion. A jury found in her favor and awarded more than US$3.5 million in damages.<\/p>\n

The case was appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 2007 ruled 5-4<\/a> that employees must file a complaint within 180 days after their employer makes a pay decision. The fact that the discrimination was embedded in each paycheck and that Ledbetter didn\u2019t know of the disparity for many years did not matter. Time had run out on her claim.<\/p>\n

In a vehement dissent<\/a> read from the bench, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted that the ruling denied workplace realities. She pointed out that since employees often lack information about pay disparities, which can accumulate slowly over time, they shouldn\u2019t be given such a narrow window in which to file a complaint.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the 111th Congress and President Obama agreed with Justice Ginsburg and nullified the decision. The Ledbetter Act<\/a> makes clear that the statute of limitations for filing a wage discrimination claim resets with each discriminatory paycheck.<\/p>\n

A disappointing impact<\/h2>\n

The law\u2019s impact, however, has been disappointing.<\/p>\n

The rate of new wage discrimination cases hasn\u2019t budged<\/a>, primarily because employees still lack information<\/a> about their co-workers\u2019 pay. Salary discussions are taboo<\/a> in most workplaces, and some employers, like Ledbetter\u2019s, forbid it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Put simply, a woman can\u2019t file a complaint if she doesn\u2019t know she\u2019s being shortchanged.<\/p>\n

Title VII wage claims are hard to prove for other reasons too. Title VII generally requires proof that employers acted with discriminatory intent. However, much discrimination in today\u2019s workplace is not intentional but fueled by unconscious gender stereotypes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For instance, studies show that workers receive better performance evaluations<\/a> when they conform to gender stereotypes, such as dominance for men and passivity for women. In one study<\/a>, participants were asked to award merit-based bonuses to fictional employees with identical personnel files. Men got higher bonuses than women.<\/p>\n

The bottom line: Women today earn about 80 cents<\/a> for every dollar men make earn, up just a few cents since 2009.<\/p>\n

And for women of color, the gap is even starker<\/a>. Latinas earn 52 cents to the dollar of white men, while African-American women earn just 61 cents. Within racial groups, a pay gap between men and women persists<\/a>, although it is narrower.<\/p>\n