Since the foundation of Women’s History Month in 1987, people have been celebrating and recognizing the significant contributions made by women throughout the past and present with one of the biggest achievements being the Equal Pay Act, which passed in June of 1963. The act requires that men and women in the same workplace be given equal pay for equal work and protects against wage discrimination based on sex. While it is a huge step forward for women, unfortunately it remains one of the biggest issues that is still unresolved.
According to the Pew Research Center, in 2022, American women typically earned 82 cents for every dollar earned by men. While it may not seem too bad, this was about the same as in 2002, when women earned 80 cents to the dollar. Comparatively in 1982, women earned just 65 cents to each dollar earned by men. The Pew Research Center also noted that Black and Hispanic women experience the largest gender wage gap compared to white women and that wage gap varies by race and ethnicity.
This is especially worrying for students about to graduate this semester, and even discouraging for young women entering their first job.
In 2019 alone, women between the ages of 16 and 29 in the Santa Rosa metro area made 88% of what men their age earned, according to the Pew Research Center.
Students such as Nicolette Rasha, a second year global studies major, and Yasmine Marquecho, a first year English major, said that they are dismayed and outraged over the narrow gap.
Rasha said, “It’s kinda ridiculous if you think about it. Doesn’t matter how hard we work, it’ll always feel like we’re trying to catch up. I’m an assistant manager at a restaurant in Cotati and I work twice as hard as my male counterparts, but they’re getting paid more than me. It’s a joke.”
Marquecho said that she doesn’t want to live in a world where by 2050 the wage gap would have only narrowed by a couple cents. “I want progress, real progress. And I’m sure I’m not the only one, in fact, I know all women want to see that.”
Despite occupation, research from the National Association of Colleges and Employers shows a very similar entry-level salary gap of 18.4%. This means that women on average are earning $52,266 in entry-level positions, versus $64,022 earned by men. In 2023, the jobs with the biggest wage gap are occupations in sales, technology, medical assistants, and lawyers.
Cheyenne Cadejo, a fourth year biochemist student, said that the wage should be geared towards occupation and not gender.
“Obviously a surgeon or a nurse is going to make more than a grocery store clerk. But if both a man and woman are surgeons, they should be getting the same amount of pay. That’s how it should work. Anybody doing the same occupation, should get the same pay,” said Cadejo.
However, occupations such as tutors, mechanical engineers, teachers, transportation security screeners (such as TSA) and social workers have the smallest wage gap, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Dajana Silvio, a second year education major, is worried about finding a job after college because of the unfair wage gaps that remain.
“I do worry about [finding a job], especially if I’m not going to be paid fairly as the other guys. I hope one day we get equal pay but I worry that even by the time we get to 2033, ten years from now, the wage would’ve only increased by a couple cents,” said Silvio.
According to American Progress, without an updated and comprehensive equal pay reform, the gender wage gap has only closed by 4 cents in more than a decade. At the current pace, women are not estimated to reach pay parity with men until 2059.
