April 15, 2023
I decided to post this year on the randomness that goes on in my head. Unfortunately, my head is full of wild and random thoughts and I have trouble focusing. Sounds like an apt description of ADD, although I have only been diagnosed by coworkers.
I have on my desk a book I cannot part with, The Economics of Being a Woman, by Dee Dee Ahern with Betsy Bliss. It’s not because some child of mine has scribbled between the back covers, although that brings back fond memories. It’s because this book opened my eyes to the way women’s role in our society (U.S.) limits our achievement. Most heterogeneous women grow up dreaming of finding that soul mate, marrying, and having a family. At least my generation did, although this changes with every generation, thankfully. In my childhood, women could aspire to three professions: nursing, teaching or secretarial work. I was surprised in 1969 when I married and was told I shouldn’t work at all because it indicated the husband was not a good provider. Luckily, I ignored his wishes and he enjoyed the income.
From 1956 to 1974, women’s pay went from 63% of men’s pay to 57%. Yeah, I was surprised, too. Even with lots of protesting in the 60s and 70s, women’s share of income went down. Luckily, we weren’t so easily overcome. Women’s rights became an essential part of civil rights. By 1979, our share had gone up to 61.5% of men’s, and by 2021, it rose to 84.3%. The exception was West Virginia, where it was still 36.6%. (1)
What are the reasons women earn less? When I entered the workforce, I had a choice among low-paying professions. There were women chemists, physicians, and plumbers, but they were the exception, rather than the rule. The unions in the 50s made sure men could make enough to support a family, and teacher’s union made sure a job would be there after a child was born. Women’s birth control had undergone a significant change in the 60s with the advent of the birth control pill. Now women could control when and if they had children, but they were still held back by employers that expected them to take time to have a family. Women were also expected to take care of sick family members or elderly ones. They were expected to move if the husband was transferred, and they were entitled to very low retirement benefits because of low earnings during their lifetime. Women who were widowed were just out of luck and often had to move their family into smaller houses or apartments. It is still true that the survivor of a marriage has to choose between the two retirement packages, if there are any.
The pandemic has showed us that it is still the women who usually have to leave their jobs to care for sick family members, and divorce has certainly shown us it is often the woman who provides for the family. I hope my granddaughters will know equity in the respect (and salaries) paid to women throughout their lives. Maybe pay equity will be up to 90% by the time they are working.
Gender Wage Pay Gap Charts, accessed 3/29/23.
