She works hard for the money. Singer Donna Summer was right.
And there’s no better time than Labor Day to pay tribute to a woman’s labor, and significant contribution to the economy. A contribution that could be more significant if women earned the same dollar as men, instead of just 77 cents. I get mad every time I think about it.
How is it that equal pay for equal work is still a goal in these very modern times? For all the headline successes like Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg—most women still experience a wage gap. It is much improved since that Donna Summer song was a hit 30 plus years ago, and has narrowed slightly during the last decade. But a 2013 study confirms that full time, year round women workers still only earned 78 percent of what their male counterparts earned.
And consider these depressing facts compiled by the American Association of University Women: The wage gap exists in every state but is smallest in Washington DC, where women get 91 percent of men’s total earnings. The widest gap is in Louisiana, where women only get 66 percent of the same check their male counterparts earn. Oprah Winfrey is a billionaire and Indra Nooyi is CEO of Pepsi, but most women of color are consistently at the bottom of the wage gap heap. The reality applies no matter the woman’s occupation, or education. That goes ditto for childless working women who are typically younger and older women can expect a wage gap that will widen as they age.
Because of this gap, a workingwoman will fall farther and farther behind in total earnings, leaving her at a permanent economic disadvantage. At best it means less in the 401K. At worst, it effectively dooms women headed households to the downside of the income inequality divide. And that impact goes far beyond any ONE women’s paycheck—it affects the community at large.
I just don’t understand why business isn’t a partner in the push to equalize pay. Women overwhelmingly make the household purchasing decisions. If the hand that rocks the cradle AND the business suit took home the whole dollar, isn’t that more money for her to spend? More money to stabilize a robust economy?
Congress can’t seem to navigate the political mud slinging to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would update the federal Equal Pay Act signed in 1963. 21 states have rejected equity legislation and only 4 have passed laws, which attempt to close the gap. Here at home two bills are working their way through the Statehouse. Maybe one of them will pass before year’s end.
Donna Summer offers a lyrical remedy for the woman she describes as working hard for the money. “You better treat her right,” she sings. Let’s stop shortchanging millions of workingwomen. Make pay equity a reality.
