美國《同工同酬法》(Equal Pay Act)已有54年,然而女性仍在爭取平等待遇。聯(lián)邦政府數(shù)據(jù)顯示,這些年來女性薪酬提升是有進步,如今以美元計男女平均薪資比例為1:0.82,《同工同酬法》生效的1963年,比例為1:0.54。按這個增長速度,至少還要70年,美國男女薪酬才能實現(xiàn)平等。 4月4日是美國的同工同酬日,紀念這個日子體現(xiàn)出即便到了2017年,美國女性仍然要非常努力爭取跟男性平等的薪酬待遇。我們也該借機思索,為何當今社會已如此發(fā)達還要討論男女收入差距的問題。美國賓夕法尼亞大學沃頓商學院養(yǎng)老金研究理事會執(zhí)行理事奧利維亞·米切爾指出,造成男女難以同工同酬的原因有很多,其中有三大主因,分別是育兒損失、缺乏勞資談判技巧以及雇主偏見。 ·育兒損失 研究顯示,生育后很多職場女性的工作都受到負面影響。在雇主眼中,初為人母的女員工往往能力不及男員工和未育的女員工,對工作的投入度也不夠。新母親面對的職業(yè)要求更高,而被聘用和晉升的幾率卻更低。一項研究稱,已生育女性和未育女性的薪酬差距可能比男女薪酬差距還大。米切爾表示一些職業(yè)女性生育后會請假,她指出:“做家庭主婦存在機會成本。無法工作的時間都是損失?!?/p> 約39%的職場母親表示,生育后要犧牲“大量”工作時間,通常會導(dǎo)致其平均收入比未育女性少7%。馬薩諸塞大學安姆斯特分校(the University of Massachusetts, Amherst)的一位社會學教授發(fā)現(xiàn),每生一個孩子,低收入女性就會因為犧牲工時而減少高達15%的收入。生育對男性的影響卻正好相反,初為人父的男性收入一般都會增加。 米切爾強調(diào),為降低育兒損失,政府提供給予補貼的日托服務(wù)很重要,瑞典就有類似的例子。(值得一提的是,瑞典的父母在孩子出生后可以休長達480天的產(chǎn)假,同時享有額外的稅收優(yōu)惠,作為育兒成本的補貼。)米切爾說:“收費親民、質(zhì)量過硬的日托至關(guān)重要。這才是真正能減少育兒損失的措施?!?/p> ·不擅勞資談判 米切爾認為,縮小男女薪酬差距“也需要女性更主動談判爭取福利待遇?!彼€說:“談判講求用合適的方式要求合理待遇?!毖芯匡@示,女性與雇主談加薪的可能性比男性低,主要因為信心不足或缺乏指導(dǎo)。而《哈佛商業(yè)周刊》的一篇文章指出,問題的關(guān)鍵可能是女性擔心談判的后果,跟談判的信心或者技巧關(guān)系不大。這類現(xiàn)象被稱為談判的“社會成本”。 例如跟雇主談薪酬問題時女性比男性更猶豫,因為女性要求加薪時可能會覺得尷尬,場面不好看。而猶豫可能代價巨大:2008年的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn),假如美國職業(yè)女性在做第一份工作的時候跟雇主談的薪水不合理,到了60歲累計損失可能會達到50萬美元。 女性怎樣才能提高談判水平?米切爾建議參加學習班。美國談判培訓機構(gòu)Negotiation Training Institute在全美都開有面向公眾的培訓班。哈佛商學院旗下的談判教育機構(gòu)Negotiation Institute也設(shè)有相關(guān)課程,但要收費。為期兩天的課程學費3000美元。 ·雇主偏見 米切爾認為,雇主的偏見也是女性收入低的一個原因。她說,不管雇主有意還是無意偏見,結(jié)果都是“女性績效不高,薪水低于實際工作能力。”換言之,雇主可能無形中低估了女員工的業(yè)務(wù)能力。 雇主點評網(wǎng)站Glassdoor最近的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn),即便工作經(jīng)歷和教育背景完全相同,在同一家公司工作,同樣職位的女性員工平均薪資也低于男性。研究者發(fā)現(xiàn),盡管假設(shè)前提條件均等,美國聯(lián)邦政府的法律也要求男女同工同酬,男性的基本工資還是比女性高5.4%,薪資總收入高出7.4%。另一篇研究文章指出,薪酬差異可能反映出,職場普遍存在對女性的偏見,而且雇主普遍低估女性的績效。 糾正雇主的偏見談何容易。在女性的能力及應(yīng)獲得的機會方面,雇主根深蒂固的成見是性別歧視的根源,也持續(xù)存在于很多社會問題中,比如薪酬差距、職業(yè)隔離和女性很難晉升領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層等。 除了以上三大原因,男女薪酬差距還受其他因素影響,包括男女教育差異,以及低收入崗位往往女性從業(yè)者偏多等。 米切爾稱,雖然男女薪酬的鴻溝正在逐步縮小,主要因為女性受教育水平提高,男性的薪資增長停滯。但過去十年,兩性薪資差距收窄的速度持續(xù)放緩?,F(xiàn)實仍然嚴峻。 “(薪資差距縮小的)步子減緩令人擔心,”米切爾說,“我們要繼續(xù)呼吁,爭取女性在職場的合理待遇?!?/p> 編輯注:以上為修正后內(nèi)容。本文最初將目前以美元計價美國的男女收入比表述為1:0.79,現(xiàn)已修改為1:0.82。(財富中文網(wǎng)) 譯者:Pessy 審稿:夏林 |
It's been 54 years since the Equal Pay Act became law, but American women are still fighting to make as much money as men. Though women have made strides — they now make an average of 82 cents for every dollar a man earns, according to federal data, compared to 54 cents prior to the Equal Pay Act in 1963 — it could take at least 70 more years before the gap completely closes. Tuesday, April 4 is Equal Pay Day—which represents how far into 2017 a woman must work in order to earn what a man did in the previous year. But it's also a moment to look at why we're still talking about the gender pay gap in the first place. There are many reasons the gap is so hard to close, according to Olivia Mitchell, the director of the pension research council at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Three of the most significant contributors, she says, are the penalty women face for becoming mothers, women's lack of negotiating skills and the bias women face from employers. The Motherhood Penalty Research shows that many mothers suffer workplace-related consequences after having a child. When compared with men and childless women, new moms are often perceived to have lower competence and commitment, and they face higher professional expectations and a lower chance of hiring and promotion. According to one study, the pay gap between mothers and women who aren't mothers could actually be even bigger than the one between men and women. "There's an opportunity cost of staying home," Mitchell says, referring to women who take time off after their child is born. "Time out of the labor force is a penalty." About 39% of mothers say they have taken "significant" time off work after having a child—a decision that usually results in those mothers earning an average of 7% less per child compared to childless women. One sociology professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst found that the penalty can actually reach up to 15% per child among low-wage workers. As for men, the opposite is true. New fathers typically see an earnings bump after their child is born. To combat the motherhood penalty, Mitchell emphasized the importance of subsidized daycares—much like the ones in Sweden. (Also worth noting: Parents there are entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave after a child is born, as well as extra tax credits to cover child-rearing costs). "Access to affordable, good quality day care is critical," she says. "That's what it's really going to take." Negotiation Closing the gender pay gap "also takes women doing more negotiation for what they want," Mitchell says, adding that "it's all in the art of asking the right way." Research shows that women are less likely to negotiate their salary than men—and a lack of confidence or guidance is sometimes to blame. But as one Harvard Business Review article notes, the problem may have more to do with how women are treated when they negotiate, rather than their general confidence or skills at negotiation—a phenomenon that has been dubbed the "social cost" of negotiation. For example, women may be more hesitant to negotiate their salary than men because advocating for higher pay could present a socially awkward or difficult situation. But that hesitation could be costly: One 2008 study found that failing to negotiate a first salary could could result in a $500,000 loss by age 60. As for what women can do to improve their negotiation skills? Mitchell suggests taking a class. The Negotiation Training Institute has programs across the U.S. that are open to the general public. Harvard Law School also offers courses through its Negotiation Institute, but at a price: A two-day course is $3,000. Employer Bias According to Mitchell, employer bias is also at blame for women's lower salaries. This bias—whether conscious or not—results in "not rating women as highly, and not paying them their due," she says. In other words, employers may unknowingly undervalue the work their female employees do. A recent Glassdoor study found that even when men and women with similar work experience and education levels were working at the same company with the exact same job title, women, on average, were still paid less. Despite the assumption things would be equal, and despite federal law requiring men and women to be paid the same for equal work, researchers found that men made 5.4% more in base pay than female counterparts, and 7.4% more in overall compensation. As another article notes, this pay discrepancy may be a result of extensive bias against women in the workplace, combined with the general undervaluation of women's work. Employer bias won't be easy to fix. Negative, deeply rooted stereotypes about women's abilities and opportunities are at the root of gender discrimination, perpetuating societal issues like pay disparity, occupational segregation and fewer leadership opportunities. And there are other causes of the gender pay gap beyond the three above—including an education disparity between men and women, as well as women typically being overrepresented in lower-paying fields. Adding to the challenges, while the wage gap is gradually narrowing—thanks in part to women's progress in education and stagnation in men's wages—the pace of that narrowing has slowed over the past decade, Mitchell says. "People are concerned things have slowed down," she says. "We need to continue the pressure to integrate women into the workplace." Editor’s note: This story has been corrected. It originally stated that women make 79 cents for every dollar a man earns. The correct statistic is 82 cents for every dollar a man earns. |