Education Helps Women Close Gap in Earnings
by

This first appeared in the
North Hills News Record

Fifty-nine cents to a man's dollar. Supposedly that's what women earn. Most outspoken feminists repeat this statistic like a sacred mantra. "Fifty-nine cents" makes a great slogan for rally buttons, t-shirts and bumper stickers. But women must stop short-changing themselves. The wage gap is closing.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that in 1970, "59 cents to the dollar" was accurate. A decade later, the earnings differential between men and women was virtually unchanged. But as the U.S. economy expanded during the 1980's, the gap began to shrink. Although both men and women saw their income increase, women saw theirs increase more. By 1990, women were earning 71 cents to a man's dollar. That's a 20% increase! In just 10 years, women had gained almost as much as they had in the previous 90 years!

But even 71 cents to the dollar is misleading since this figure represents the average wage for all female workers. It includes older women who entered the work force after their children were grown. Many of these women have only a high school diploma and little or no employment experience so they often work for minimum wage.

However, when wage statistics are compared by age group, the results are more encouraging. Education is the greatest income equalizer and more younger women have college degrees. Women ages 25-34 now earn more than 82 cents for every dollar earned by men of the same age.

So what about the remaining 18 cents? Surely, that's caused by gender discrimination. Well, actually no.

Today many women are pursuing high paying careers in medicine, law, finance and engineering. But even within specific fields, women often specialize in the lower paying disciplines. For instance, a woman is more likely to become a pediatrician rather than a cardiac specialist. Lower average earnings reflect these career choices.

Women also frequently move into and out of the work force during their child rearing years. These interruptions seldom help anyone's career. If a woman with children does work full-time, she isn't likely to work more than 40 hours a week. And if a child is sick, it's usually Mom, not Dad, who takes time off from work.

When economists compare the hourly earnings of men and women, instead of yearly earnings, the wage gap narrows even more. That means the wage difference caused by true gender bias is probably closer to 9 cents not 41 cents.

Of course, none of this suggests there isn't room for improvement. However, unlike men, women tend to ignore their own success. "Fifty-nine cents to a man's dollar?" Hardly! We've definitely come a long way.

© Copyright Deborah A. Ayers 1994. All rights reserved.