Press on Employment & Job Quality

Women still lagging men in salaries

iwpr — 2010-11-03T16:05:00Z

Heidi Hartmann, president of the Institute for Women's Policy Research, said she's been studying the pay-gap issue so long that she's generally pleased any time the gap narrows. But when she tells young women about it, they're always shocked and wonder why it's not rectified immediately. "It's a question of how fast you think it should go," she said. But even she's been distressed at the slow pace since 1995. "We should have seen more progress in the past 15 years."

Gender pay gap is smallest on record

iwpr — 2010-11-03T16:05:00Z

The earnings gap between men and women has shrunk to a record low, partly because many women are prospering in the new economy and partly because men have been hit hard by the recession. Women earned 82.8% of the median weekly wage of men in the second quarter of 2010, up from 76.1% for the same period a decade ago and the highest ever recorded, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. The Census Bureau on Thursday will release a more comprehensive look at earnings differences between men and women. But a USA TODAY analysis of current data shows dramatic changes are underway short-term and long-term. "The good news is the wage gap is closing. The bad news is the reason," says economist Robert Drago, research director at the Institute for Women's Policy Research.

The Truth Behind the Rumor That Young Women Have Beat the Wage Gap

iwpr — 2010-11-03T16:02:37Z

It’s pretty simple: more women are graduating from college than men, so more young women are qualified for higher-paying entry-level jobs. Thus, in aggregate, millennial women are earning more than millennial men as they start their careers. Millennial Hispanic and black women make even more — as much as twice - as Hispanic and black men of the same age. That’s because the education gap is even wider between Hispanic and black young women and men than it is for whites. This doesn’t mean that women in particular professions, industries or job categories are making more than their male peers. It also doesn’t have anything to do with what individual women make compared to their male colleagues. And most of all, this doesn’t relate to married young women or the biggest earnings barrier of all: children. Does this contradict the recent findings of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research that female-dominated professions make less than male-dominated professions? Not in the least. In fact, the contrast highlights the challenge facing young women as they try to advance. As life gets more complicated, they will face trade-offs.”The real question is what will happen as they move through life stages,” says Chung.

'Mancession' Continues Despite Gains

iwpr — 2010-11-03T16:02:37Z

Mark Perry, a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, points to possible sectoral shifts in the economy, and to the fact that women now outnumber men in college, as indications that future recessions will also be "mancessions." "If we are talking about this continuing and increasing college degree gap, that would shift in favor of women being better prepared for the knowledge-based economy and being in positions that are more resistant to a downturn," Perry said. The unemployment rate last month for people 25 and over without a high school diploma was 14 percent. Those having college and graduate degrees had just 4.6 percent unemployment. Still, the severity of the gender gap could simply reflect the unique nature of the downturn. "They're not all going to be led by financial crashes, real estate crashes, and construction crashes," said Heidi Hartmann, president of the Institute for Women's Policy Research.

Women: How Higher Education Doesn’t Pay

iwpr — 2010-11-03T16:02:37Z

Gotta love it: the more education women get, the more they fall behind male peers in pay. It’s one of those conundrums - there are so many in the wage gap morass - that just doesn’t make sense. Thank goodness the Institute for Women’s Policy Research spells it out in agonizing detail in its just-released briefing, “Separate and Not Equal? Gender Segregation in the Labor Market and the Gender Wage Gap.”

New firm aims to advance women in leadership roles

iwpr — 2010-11-10T15:21:21Z

“A leadership development firm launched this month will provide mentoring programs, executive coaching and management consulting to professionals across the ranks.

While the services are available to both sexes, Newport Beach-based Business Women Rising was created with a goal of advancing the presence and effectiveness of women in leadership roles.

According to a recent report by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, only 2.5 out of 10 chief executives are women – a statistic that Business Women Rising wants to change.”

Women leave their stamp in manufacturing: As more women than men buy cars, shift may lead to more jobs at assembly plants, greater role in boardroom

iwpr — 2010-11-10T15:21:21Z

"Pam McDonough, president of the Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing and chief executive of NORBIC, a Chicago-based nonprofit economic development organization, said once women make it to plant manager, they are in a better position to move into the top ranks.

’If you've toughed it out beyond a certain level, you have as much or possibly a better chance than a man (for promotion),’ said Ariane Hegewisch, study director at the Institute for Women's Policy Research. But she added that getting women interested in manufacturing has proven difficult.

Few women enroll in the kinds of automotive and mechanical engineering programs that spawn leaders like Allman and Georger, Hegewisch said. ‘In general, getting women into the pipeline is not that easy.'’'

A Toolkit for Women Seeking a Raise

iwpr — 2010-11-10T15:21:21Z

"Part of the pay gap can be easily explained away. Women are more likely to leave the work force to care for children, for example, so they end up with fewer years of experience. Men also tend to work in higher-paying occupations and industries.

'But what you find is that when you pull out all of those factors, you still have about 40 percent of the wage gap — or 9.2 cents — unexplained,' said Ariane Hegewisch, a study director at the institute.

Academic research on gender and negotiation suggests that part of the unexplained gap may be tied, at least in part, to the negotiating process itself. It may be that some women have lower pay expectations. Men, on the other hand, have been found to be more likely to negotiate higher starting salaries."

Why do Women Still Earn Less Than Men?

iwpr — 2010-11-10T15:21:22Z

"Skeptics who deem the 77% estimate too optimistic also note that the figure only counts women working full-time (35 hours a week or more, for the full year) and doesn't account for the fact that women are far more likely to take time off to start a family or work part-time while rearing one. Over a period of 15 years, according to a 2004 study by the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR), a full 52% of women in the prime earning age range of 26 to 59 go through at least one full calendar year earning nothing at all, compared to just 16% of men."

Don't Give Me Roses, Just Give Me Equity

iwpr — 2010-11-10T15:21:22Z

"For women who are lucky enough to have a paycheck, there are several Valentine's gifts more satisfying than those sickly sweet candy hearts. A dozen roses will be wilted and trashed by her next payday, but equal pay for equal work will make a difference over a lifetime. According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, the average twenty-five-year-old woman will earn $523,000 less than her male counterpart over the next forty years. Further, everyone knows that women still only make 77 cents to the male dollar, but when you break it down by race, the disparity becomes even more dramatic: Latina women, for example, earn 59.2% and African American women 71.9% as much as white men Instead of reciting poetry to your sweetie on February 14th, why not recite the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to her employer?

Instead of sending a singing telegram, how about sending more bills to Congress and state legislatures to make quality child care more affordable and accessible: one of the main barriers to women's economic advancement?"

Report: Training Widens Pay Gap

iwpr — 2010-11-10T15:21:22Z

"That’s because women are still getting trained as sales clerks and office workers, jobs traditionally filled by women.

Meanwhile, men in WIA programs are being trained to build, install and repair things. Such positions tend to pay more, says Ariane Hegewisch, a study director at the institute, which is affiliated with George Washington University.

The data show that workers who complete the government-paid training are even less likely than the overall U.S. workforce to pursue “non-traditional” employment, defined as a job where at least 75 percent of the other workers are members of the opposite sex.

'Thus WIA services appear to contribute to increasing sex segregation in the labor market,' the report found.
Hegewisch and her colleagues say that states receiving WIA funds should increase counseling to encourage women to choose non-traditional career paths. With the program due for reauthorization,a new emphasis on steering women toward higher-paying jobs could be included in a revised law.

'Some women really don’t want to do non-traditional jobs. But some, once they know how much they pay, would be quite interested,' Hegewisch says.

Training might need to include extra support for women entering non-traditional fields, she says: 'It’s a little bit of extra investment, but it makes the whole labor market more effective.'"

Hey big spender: Bundle's gender breakdown

iwpr — 2010-11-10T15:21:22Z

"According to Bundle -- a brand-new partner site of MSN Money that lets users investigate spending trends by age, household, income and geography -- single men outspend single women in almost every category. Yes, men make more than women do -- about 25% more, according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research.

But even among men and women with similar household incomes, men spent about 19% more than women on food and 16% more on travel. Their insurance bills were higher, they paid more for school-related expenses, even their phones cost them more. Hey, I guess you've got to keep the bromance alive."

Jobless Rate Among Single Moms Hits 25-Year High

iwpr — 2010-11-10T15:21:22Z

" January 10, 2010 - Economists in D.C. say unemployment among single mothers is at a 25-year high and that the job outlook for single moms in our area is mixed. A report from the Institute for Women's Policy Research says the unemployment rate among single moms nationwide is 13 percent -- much higher than almost any other group, says Institute President Heidi Hartman. "We think it's because they have particular needs and when they find a job they can do that meets their transportation availability, their schedules in terms of child care, the wage rate that they need in order to be able to support their family and possibly still also pay for child care." Hartman says job recovery among single mothers could be faster in the D.C. area than elsewhere in part because of strong federal spending. But she adds that parts of D.C. and its close suburbs -- like Silver Spring and Arlington -- have larger numbers of single moms at risk of falling into poverty. Mana Rabiee reports... "