Women still paid less than men for equal work

If you think that women’s status in U.S. society is slowly but surely improving, think again. Sexist discrimination is alive and well as seen by the persistent and growing wage gap between men and women.

In a recent study by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, analysis showed that one

The struggle for equal pay continues.

year out of college, women earned 80 percent of what men were earning. Ten years later, the gap had widened and women were earning 69 percent of what men were earning.

Even when the researchers considered factors such as field of employment, part-time work, and leaving the workforce for maternity leave or child-rearing, the gap persisted. Using statistical analysis, researchers were able to assert that about one-quarter of the pay gap can only be explained by gender—5 percent one year after graduation and 12 percent 10 years after graduation.

“If a woman and a man make the same choices, will they receive the same pay?” the study asked. The answer is no.

“These unexplained gaps are evidence of discrimination, which remains a serious problem for women in the work force,” researchers wrote.

A year after leaving college, one would expect the pay gap to be smallest, since neither men nor women are as likely to have become parents, and the level of experience should be similar for all recent graduates.

“It surprised me that it was already apparent one year out of college, and that it widens over the first 10 years,” Catherine Hill, AAUW director of research, told Reuters.

While women are more likely to enter fields where pay is generally lower, researchers found a pay gap between women and men who studied the same fields. For instance, in education, women earn 95 percent as much as do men, while in math, women earn 76 percent as males, the study showed.

The gap cannot be attributed to lack of knowledge of ability. The study showed that women outperformed men academically in college. Women’s grade point averages were higher in every college major.

The study, of course, does not explore the wage gap for women who have not attended college; however, one can only conclude that discrimination on the basis of gender exists for women with high school degrees as well. The study also did not examine the compounding effects of racism on the pay gap between women and men.

What the study fails to explain is why gender based wage discrimination exists. The answer is simple. Capitalist bosses reap higher profits when they pay women less.

We need to fight today for equal pay for work of equal value. However, socialism is only system that, by eliminating the profit motive, lays the basis for true gender equality.