Yes; And Awareness Is Key

Though I’ve heard it said that men generally work longer hours than women and that’s why they make more money, the statistics I have seen have not borne out this claim. On any issue you can find two groups with different agendas that can come up with diametrically opposed statistical analyses. It also goes along with the thinking that women who have children automatically work less because they are responsible for child care, but these are just generalizations.

Then there’s the argument that many women have less experience than men and, therefore, should earn less. While this is true among some older female workers, their numbers are balanced with the vastly increased number of younger females in the workplace.

These younger workers have the same experience as their male counterparts, yet are still often paid lower salaries.

As more women have joined the work force, the most frequent complaints have been about sharing household duties and child-rearing. Because women are spending more hours at work and their time is precious, they are asking--insisting--that the chores at home be shared equitably.

Men--especially younger men--have come a long way because many of them were raised by working mothers who had to divvy up the household responsibilities. It all comes down to fairness.

Since 1963, when the Equal Pay Act was signed into law, it is estimated that the wage gap has narrowed by about 13 points, with the female-to-male earnings ratio rising from 59% to between 72% and 75%. (Pay for women of color hasn’t risen as much.) It is also believed that some of this narrowing is because of a decline in men’s earnings rather than an increase in women’s salaries.

So much of this is a function of awareness and equity that must enter our personal relationships and be applied on a state and national scale. Employers need to examine how they pay wages and treat employees.

They must make their workplaces friendly for women because, even though women are out there working as hard as men, many also bear the lion’s share of child-raising and household chores.

If we really value our children and their futures, we need to value this contribution.

These issues are in jeopardy now that President Bush has closed the White House Office for Women’s Initiatives and Outreach.

This office, created by President Clinton, acted as a liaison between the president and women’s rights organizations.

It notified women’s groups of upcoming legislation affecting women, communicated women’s concerns and proposals to the president and scheduled meetings for these groups with the White House.

The closure of this office reflects the lack of voice women have with the Bush administration, not only on the issue of equal pay for women but on all issues.