The Wall Street Journal reported that the income gap between men and women in the United States continued to widen in the third quarter of 2015.
According to a latest report of the World Economic Forum, the global income gap between men and women will further widen in 2019. It is currently estimated that 257 years will be needed to close the gap, more than half a century later than the 202 years predicted by the Forum in 2018.
The latest data released by the U.S. Department of Labor on October 20 showed that in the third quarter of 2015, the median weekly salary of full-time male employees rose 2.2% to 899 U.S. dollars compared with a year ago. The median weekly salary for full-time female employees was $721, up only 0.8% from the previous year. This means that between July and September this year, a male employee earned one dollar while a female employee earned only 81.1 cents.
For three consecutive quarters, the increase in the income of male employees was at least twice as fast as that of female employees.
In the second quarter of 2014, the median weekly salary of full-time female employees was equivalent to 83.5% of the median weekly salary of full-time male employees, which was the smallest gender income gap record since 1979. Until this year, the income gap between men and women has been narrowing, but this is largely due to the weak income of men-from 2010 to 2014, men’s income showed a downward trend for five quarters-rather than a significant increase in women’s income.
Photo Source: The Wall Street Journal’s higher income for men than for women is not new. Politicians and celebrities who have always advocated equal rights between men and women have also spared no effort to call people’s attention to this issue. Income equality is one of the social issues that the Obama administration is committed to promoting. Actor Patricia Arquette also said in her best supporting actress speech at this year’s Oscar ceremony that “it is time for women in the United States of America to have equal rights to income.” Recently, Jennifer Lawrence, a post-90s actor who became popular in the movie “Hunger Games,” also wrote “why do I earn less than my male counterparts?”? “Blaming Hollywood for Income Inequality between Men and Women.
Why is there unequal income between men and women? Many people attribute this to the fact that women are more engaged in low-paid jobs, but Labor Department data tell us a fact that may surprise many people: the increasing income gap is at least partly caused by the income inequality of high-income groups (such as lawyers, engineers, doctors, and financial professionals).
Among full-time employees with high-paying positions, the median weekly salary of male employees in the third quarter of 2015 was $1,345, up 7.4% from the previous year, while the median weekly salary of female employees was $970, up 2.2% from the previous year.
“People mistakenly believe that women are only engaged in bad jobs. If we let women take good jobs, we can solve the problem of gender income gap. ” Claudia Goldin, Ph.D. in Labor Economics from Harvard University, said in an interview with The new york Times.
Goldin pointed out that placing women in high-paying industries can only reduce the income gap of all employees by 15%, while for employees with college degrees, the gap will decrease by 30% to 35%, and the remaining factor is the workplace itself.
According to Goldin’s research, the income gap between female financial experts and male financial experts is the largest, with the former earning only 66% of the latter. The professions with the greatest income gap between men and women also include podiatrists (67%), doctors and surgeons (71%), financial advisors (73%), and accountants (76%).
Ranking of high-income occupations with the greatest income difference between men and women. Photo Source: Goldin of the new york Times believes that the reason for the income inequality between men and women in these professions is that employers in these fields tend to reward employees who work longer hours and spend more time in the office, and these employees are often men.
“If the company no longer rewards employees who work long hours and fixed hours disproportionately, the gender income gap will be greatly reduced or even completely eliminated.” Goldin wrote in The American Economic Review.
The data prove that those professional fields (such as commerce, law and medicine) that encourage employees to stay in the office for a long time do have the largest income gap between men and women. A big firm lawyer who works 80 hours a week earns twice as much as a small firm lawyer who works 40 hours a week.
For female employees who need to take care of their family children, they often prefer flexible working hours to balance work and life, which prevents them from working as hard as male employees. If the practice of encouraging overtime is not changed, the income gap between men and women will only widen.
In China, the widening income gap between men and women also deserves attention. According to three national surveys conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics, the economic inequality between men and women has intensified in the past 20 years.
According to the survey, in 1990, the annual income of female urban residents was 77.5% of that of male urban residents, which was declining, from 70% in 1999 to 67.3% in 2010.
However, in rural areas, the income inequality between men and women is even more serious. In 1999, the annual income of female rural residents was equivalent to 79% of that of male rural residents, while in 2010 the figure had dropped to 56%.
However, the report does record some positive developments: the global gender gap-including health, education and politics in addition to the economy-has improved, largely due to the increase in women’s participation in politics. However, the forum predicted that it would take nearly 100 years to completely eliminate the gender gap.
Original Artical，Author：China Trade Agent，if repost，please give references ：https://offers-bg.com/income-gap/
