Editorial: National gender pay gap at a standstill, needs to improve
Gender pay gaps are constant, never-ending issues that America seems to always struggling with, and it’s appears they won’t change in the near future.
In the U.S., women hold 49.3 percent of jobs, according to whitehouse.gov. But despite this fact, and the fact that women have been increasing in the business world for more than 50 years, women make 79 percent of what men do, or 79 cents of every dollar.
And this goes for any job, any business. A woman can be doing the exact job a man does, and still gets paid 21 cents less.
The White House website also clarifies that while that statistic was much lower 50 years ago, when the Equal Pay Act was signed in 1963, the gap remains between 76 and 79 percent, and hasn’t shifted much.
And while the gap has significantly narrowed since the Act was first signed, and jobs have seen an influx of women, it still isn’t enough, simply because equal pay means, well, equal pay.
April 12 is also Equal Pay Day, where local businesses offer discounts of 21 percent to women, which is symbolic for how much less women get paid, 21 cents.
Even the fact that there’s a holiday to “celebrate” this is atrocious because if the pay gap wasn’t still existent in 2016, women wouldn’t have to basically be mocked for their equally hard work, for a 21 percent discount.
Taking college into consideration is another story.
Women have outnumbered men in college attendance since the 1970s, almost a 40-60 ratio in many institutions.
That being said, with women being more likely to get an education, regardless of what they go to school for, the continued pay discrepancy just doesn’t make sense.
South Dakota’s earnings ratio ranks 39 out of all states and the District of Columbia, with women making 76 percent of what men do.
If someone is doing the same job, putting in the same hours, attending the same college for the same amount of time and for the same degree, they should have the same salary.
This belief should be applied across all professions, including those within college institutions.
Fortunately, USD does a good job in pay equality. According to a gender pay gap study conducted by the South Dakota Council for Higher Education and analyzed by USD professors, the pay gap at USD is less than one percent. In this regard, the university sets a high example — one that should be followed by other universities in the region.
College professors are being paid based on rank, which makes sense. Performance, not gender, should determine how much a person gets paid.
It’s simple. It’s 2016 — the Equal Pay Act is 53 years old. Despite women outnumbering men in collegiate populations, there’s still progress to be made.
Everyone should be compensated fairly for the hard work they put into their jobs. Work ethic is the only thing that should be taken into consideration when determining pay, not demographics such as gender.
