What Is the Gender Pay Gap, and How Can It Be Closed?

The gender pay gap may seem like an issue of the individual man making more money than his female counterpart due to merit, experience or any other valid reason until one looks at the statistics. According to WEF records, globally, there is no industry that does not have a gender pay distinction even if the income should depend on objective factors (World Economic Forum). 

Women receive 68% of men’s earnings on global average while in countries with lowest gender parity only 40% of what men receive (WEF). According to WEF, closing the gap between wages and achieving global pay equity would take approximately 257 years taking into consideration current rates. Furthermore, this economic condition has been made worse by COVID-19 since it has disproportionately affected women. In fact research suggests that the pandemic will increase the wage difference between men and women by five percent.

“Achieving true gender equality — in law, practice, the home, and the economy — is a challenge that this generation must rise to,” says Aaron Holtz, Global Citizen's director for gender equality and inclusion. “Society must value more highly all those talents which are inherent in women and girls so as to achieve UN’s Global Goals as well as benefit from a more fair world.”

Most countries around the globe have laws ensuring equal pay for equal work – but these laws are not always followed properly. Moreover, having legal obligations for equality is just one part of a much bigger problem.

Systemic Gender Pay Gap: This means that most societies suffering from patriarchy have misogyny embedded within their systems where males contributions worth more than females even when they perform same roles plus cultural norms steer females towards lower paying undervalued occupation

Misogyny affects individuals and communities negatively; it can directly affect important aspects such as educational outcomes, access to health care services and social supports or political inclusion and representation.

The gender pay gap is not just an issue of gender inequality, rather it is a form of sexism that undermines wider efforts to achieve gender equality. For instance, it often denies women economic security and independence while also limiting them and their families out of poverty as well as hindering full and equal participation in the economy and society by women or girls.

Superficially, this does not compute. After all, why should men be paid more than women for equal work?

What causes the gender pay gap?

The pay disparity between genders has various causative factors. At its simplest level, there is direct discrimination in terms of payment whereby a man will earn more compared to his female colleague although they do the same work without reason save for their sex.

Take, for instance, when it was revealed that the female cast members of The Big Bang Theory earned only 20% of what their male co-stars were making before they discovered this fact and demanded equal pay.

But this is not confined to show business alone. In nearly every occupation from nursing to teaching to software engineering- women are paid less than men (in America or other countries).

On the other hand, if there is no legal protection for employees such as new parents or families of pregnancy female workers, these women are likely to face consequences and lose their jobs.

This encompasses situations like losing one’s job or being denied a promotion because they were pregnant, being discriminated against or not given equal opportunities while they had a baby or struggling to get back into work after giving birth.

In reality, this has resulted in women bearing more unpaid care and domestic labour such as child-raising and housework — an institutional framework that makes it difficult for them to concentrate on the career as much as men do thereby reducing their earning potentials.

However, it is not just about unequal wages; it is also about unequal opportunities. There are countries which discourage women from joining labor force and restrict some professions especially for them.

Who is fighting the gender pay gap?

The gender pay gap has been very contentious in recent years resulting in diverse champions from all walks of life coming forward.

US women soccer team demanded payment equal to that of male counterparts; Hollywood actresses demanded end of huge wage gaps; journalists at organisations like BBC have unveiled shocking income disparities among their staff members.

On another level, grassroots women-led organisations demand intersectional pay equity. In October 2019, #MeTooPay was launched in UK demanding for a more equitable way of paying women after a case involving a woman banker who earned significantly less than her male colleagues became public knowledge.

While the gender pay gap applies to all women across the board, certain groups of historically marginalised females suffer disproportionately higher impacts than others.

Black and Latina females earn less than white and Asian women in US. Transgender ladies are typically paid lower salaries than their peers alongside other workplace barriers while disabled females earn only pennies compared with what their fellow workers receive and can hardly find any working position at all.

These attempts aimed at narrowing the wage disparities are concentrated around several bases.

How can we close the gender pay gap?

First, laws that enforce pay equity can effectively root out wage disparities and ensure better frameworks are in place to achieve greater workplace equality. The development of economic recovery plans for women during the pandemic is possible.

In addition to legal reform, activists around the world are attempting to persuade companies to voluntarily commit to pay equity, a pledge that dozens of companies in the United States have already made.

Moreover, encouraging more women into leadership positions within firms thereby influencing corporate culture, decisions such as salary bands and wider equity will also help bridge the gender pay gap.

On a broader scale, these initiatives may make it easier for girls to enter higher paying fields through career encouragement programs or mentoring systems. Girls are often discouraged from pursuing STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) subjects starting from elementary school according to studies.

Income transparency within and between sectors is another means of addressing pay equity. Women need access to their colleagues’ salary ranges so that they can negotiate salaries when they start new jobs or try for raises. Income transparency also holds companies accountable by highlighting unfair and sexist practices.

Finally, ending gender based payment gaps require ensuring that both men and women receive equal payment for the work done without any form of discrimination. Nevertheless, enhancing ladies’ rights also tackles some of the main causes of worldwide poverty and inequality in relation to the UN’s Global Goal for gender equality.

For instance, things such as boosting women's health, ending domestic violence and promoting female entrepreneurship would be incorporated with improving gender equity. When women become financially empowered their lives get better; it also improves family, community and national situations. The time has come to shut the gender wage gap and guarantee that females can finally assume parity with males.