美國(guó)的同工同酬日(Equal Pay Day)用于表示美國(guó)女性在新一年還需要額外工作多長(zhǎng)時(shí)間,才能夠得到和男性前一年工作一整年相同的薪資。但如今,這個(gè)日子往往被用來(lái)表示女性在工作中遭遇的不平等待遇。目前美國(guó)的性別薪酬差距為82美分對(duì)1美元,所以3月24日就是2021年的同工同酬日。但到2022年,有專家表示性別薪酬差距可能縮小,但這對(duì)女性在經(jīng)濟(jì)上的進(jìn)步卻是壞消息。
2020年,由于女性要照顧子女,而且新冠疫情對(duì)休閑餐旅等以女性為主的行業(yè)造成了嚴(yán)重沖擊,因此許多從事低薪崗位的女性退出了勞動(dòng)力隊(duì)伍。事實(shí)上,這么多女性離開工作崗位或者失業(yè),她們不再賺取工資可能會(huì)在2022年縮小性別薪酬差距(確定同工同酬日日期使用的數(shù)據(jù)滯后一年)。高收入女性沒有遭遇同等水平的失業(yè),因此可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致數(shù)據(jù)失真。美國(guó)國(guó)家婦女法律中心(National Women’s Law Center)對(duì)2020年的數(shù)據(jù)按季度進(jìn)行分析后發(fā)現(xiàn),年初的性別薪酬差距為81美分對(duì)1美元,年末為84美分對(duì)1美元。
國(guó)家婦女法律中心的總裁兼首席執(zhí)行官法蒂瑪·古斯·格拉芙斯表示:“如果最終性別薪酬差距小幅縮小的原因是更多女性離開了勞動(dòng)力隊(duì)伍,沒有人敢說這是一場(chǎng)勝利?!?/p>
古斯·格拉芙斯建議,在準(zhǔn)備這一刻到來(lái)的同時(shí),重要的是把性別薪酬差距數(shù)字放到大環(huán)境下考慮。有多少女性依舊處在失業(yè)狀態(tài)?(去年有近300萬(wàn)女性離開了勞動(dòng)力隊(duì)伍。)低薪崗位的失業(yè)率有多高?(在休閑餐旅行業(yè),2月的失業(yè)率為13.5%,而總體失業(yè)率只有6.2%。)
她說:“我們將有機(jī)會(huì)更細(xì)致地了解薪酬差距。然后我們討論的解決方案應(yīng)該是從長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)角度真正縮小薪酬差距,而不是依靠女性離開勞動(dòng)力隊(duì)伍來(lái)實(shí)現(xiàn)?!?/p>
同工同酬日衡量了美國(guó)所有職場(chǎng)女性與男性之間的薪酬差距;但不同種族的女性之間也存在巨大差異。在2020年消失的低薪崗位中,黑人和拉丁裔女性所占的比例更高,這意味著明年的薪酬差距計(jì)算中可能不會(huì)將這些女性考慮在內(nèi)。
性別薪酬差距的出現(xiàn)有若干原因,例如工資歧視,即女性從事與男性相同或類似工作的薪酬更低;職業(yè)隔離,即女性更有可能從事低薪崗位;生育懲罰,即職場(chǎng)媽媽的收入低于職場(chǎng)爸爸,或者在生育之后重新進(jìn)入職場(chǎng)的薪酬降低。
古斯·格拉芙斯支持通過《薪資公平法案》(Paycheck Fairness Act)和《懷孕工人公平法案》(Pregnant Workers Fairness Act),前者可以避免工作者因?yàn)橛懻撔匠甓獾綀?bào)復(fù),并且更有利于就不公平薪酬提起集體訴訟,后者能夠保護(hù)在懷孕期間要求有專用工作空間的員工。
雖然今年的同工同酬日數(shù)據(jù)并沒有體現(xiàn)疫情的影響,但它確實(shí)讓我們看到了在持續(xù)一年的大災(zāi)難降臨之前的2019年,女性遭遇的薪酬差距。古斯·格拉芙斯說:“薪酬差距未來(lái)會(huì)變成財(cái)富差距。今年的數(shù)據(jù)向我們顯示了進(jìn)入經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退之前的基線男女不平等狀況?!保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng))
翻譯:劉進(jìn)龍
審校:汪皓
美國(guó)的同工同酬日(Equal Pay Day)用于表示美國(guó)女性在新一年還需要額外工作多長(zhǎng)時(shí)間,才能夠得到和男性前一年工作一整年相同的薪資。但如今,這個(gè)日子往往被用來(lái)表示女性在工作中遭遇的不平等待遇。目前美國(guó)的性別薪酬差距為82美分對(duì)1美元,所以3月24日就是2021年的同工同酬日。但到2022年,有專家表示性別薪酬差距可能縮小,但這對(duì)女性在經(jīng)濟(jì)上的進(jìn)步卻是壞消息。
2020年,由于女性要照顧子女,而且新冠疫情對(duì)休閑餐旅等以女性為主的行業(yè)造成了嚴(yán)重沖擊,因此許多從事低薪崗位的女性退出了勞動(dòng)力隊(duì)伍。事實(shí)上,這么多女性離開工作崗位或者失業(yè),她們不再賺取工資可能會(huì)在2022年縮小性別薪酬差距(確定同工同酬日日期使用的數(shù)據(jù)滯后一年)。高收入女性沒有遭遇同等水平的失業(yè),因此可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致數(shù)據(jù)失真。美國(guó)國(guó)家婦女法律中心(National Women’s Law Center)對(duì)2020年的數(shù)據(jù)按季度進(jìn)行分析后發(fā)現(xiàn),年初的性別薪酬差距為81美分對(duì)1美元,年末為84美分對(duì)1美元。
國(guó)家婦女法律中心的總裁兼首席執(zhí)行官法蒂瑪·古斯·格拉芙斯表示:“如果最終性別薪酬差距小幅縮小的原因是更多女性離開了勞動(dòng)力隊(duì)伍,沒有人敢說這是一場(chǎng)勝利?!?/p>
古斯·格拉芙斯建議,在準(zhǔn)備這一刻到來(lái)的同時(shí),重要的是把性別薪酬差距數(shù)字放到大環(huán)境下考慮。有多少女性依舊處在失業(yè)狀態(tài)?(去年有近300萬(wàn)女性離開了勞動(dòng)力隊(duì)伍。)低薪崗位的失業(yè)率有多高?(在休閑餐旅行業(yè),2月的失業(yè)率為13.5%,而總體失業(yè)率只有6.2%。)
她說:“我們將有機(jī)會(huì)更細(xì)致地了解薪酬差距。然后我們討論的解決方案應(yīng)該是從長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)角度真正縮小薪酬差距,而不是依靠女性離開勞動(dòng)力隊(duì)伍來(lái)實(shí)現(xiàn)?!?/p>
同工同酬日衡量了美國(guó)所有職場(chǎng)女性與男性之間的薪酬差距;但不同種族的女性之間也存在巨大差異。在2020年消失的低薪崗位中,黑人和拉丁裔女性所占的比例更高,這意味著明年的薪酬差距計(jì)算中可能不會(huì)將這些女性考慮在內(nèi)。
性別薪酬差距的出現(xiàn)有若干原因,例如工資歧視,即女性從事與男性相同或類似工作的薪酬更低;職業(yè)隔離,即女性更有可能從事低薪崗位;生育懲罰,即職場(chǎng)媽媽的收入低于職場(chǎng)爸爸,或者在生育之后重新進(jìn)入職場(chǎng)的薪酬降低。
古斯·格拉芙斯支持通過《薪資公平法案》(Paycheck Fairness Act)和《懷孕工人公平法案》(Pregnant Workers Fairness Act),前者可以避免工作者因?yàn)橛懻撔匠甓獾綀?bào)復(fù),并且更有利于就不公平薪酬提起集體訴訟,后者能夠保護(hù)在懷孕期間要求有專用工作空間的員工。
雖然今年的同工同酬日數(shù)據(jù)并沒有體現(xiàn)疫情的影響,但它確實(shí)讓我們看到了在持續(xù)一年的大災(zāi)難降臨之前的2019年,女性遭遇的薪酬差距。古斯·格拉芙斯說:“薪酬差距未來(lái)會(huì)變成財(cái)富差距。今年的數(shù)據(jù)向我們顯示了進(jìn)入經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退之前的基線男女不平等狀況?!保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng))
翻譯:劉進(jìn)龍
審校:汪皓
Equal Pay Day, the date that measures how far into the new year women in the U.S. had to work to earn what men did the year prior, is often used as a measure of women’s inequality at work. With the gender wage gap now clocking in at 82¢ on the dollar, March 24 marks Equal Pay Day 2021. But looking ahead to 2022, experts say the gap will likely shrink—and that that would be a bad sign for women’s economic progress.
In 2020, many women in low-wage jobs were forced out of the workforce as they took on childcare burdens and as the pandemic devastated the industries that disproportionately employ them, including leisure and hospitality. In fact, so many of those women left or lost their jobs that their absence as wage earners will likely reduce the gender pay gap in 2022 (the data used to set the date for Equal Pay Day exhibits a one-year lag). High-earning women haven’t suffered the same level of unemployment, which will likely help skew the data. The National Women’s Law Center crunched the numbers quarterly in 2020 and found that the gender pay gap began the year at 81¢ on the dollar and ended it at 84 cents.
“If we end up with a situation where the wage gap shrinks slightly, but it shrinks because we have more women out of the workforce, no one should be out there declaring that a win,” says Fatima Goss Graves, the president and CEO of the NWLC.
In preparation for that moment, it will be important to place gender wage gap numbers in context, Goss Graves advises. How many women are still unemployed? (Almost 3 million women dropped out of the labor force over the past year.) How high is unemployment in low-wage professions specifically? (In leisure and hospitality, the February unemployment rate was 13.5%, compared with a 6.2% overall unemployment rate.)
“It’ll be a chance for us to have a more nuanced understanding of the wage gap,” she says. “And to talk about the suite of solutions that stand to position us in the long haul so we are actually closing the wage gap—not through women being driven out of the workforce.”
Equal Pay Day measures the pay gap between all U.S. working women and all U.S. working men; of course, significant disparities exist by race. Black women and Latinas are overrepresented in the kinds of low-wage jobs that disappeared in 2020—meaning they are the women who may be missing from next year’s wage gap calculations.
The gender pay gap exists because of several factors, from wage discrimination, where women earn less than men for the same or comparable work; to occupational segregation, where women are more likely to work in low-wage jobs; to the motherhood penalty, where women earn less than their male peers who are fathers or reenter the workforce at lower levels after becoming moms.
Goss Graves supports solutions like passing the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would protect workers from retaliation for discussing pay and better facilitate class action over unequal pay, and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which would protect workers who require accommodations to do their jobs during pregnancy.
And while this year’s Equal Pay Day data doesn’t yet reflect the effects of the pandemic, it does tell us what earnings women missed out on in 2019 just before they entered the yearlong catastrophe. “The wage gap becomes a wealth gap over time,” Goss Graves says. “This year’s numbers tell us the baseline inequality that we headed into the recession with.”