Did you know that women are generally found to be paid less than men? Not only that but it’s also been found that people get paid less because of their race.

According to statistical data found in 2020 from U.S Department of Labor Blog, women’s annual earnings were 82.3% of men’s. The gap gets even bigger for women of color. In 1973, women were earning 57 cents for every dollar a man would make. Fast forward to 2022, studies found that women were approximately getting paid 82 cents for every dollar a man would make. Over the past 10 years, a woman’s annual earnings were 12k compared to men’s which was 23k. 

What makes this all legal is the motherhood vs. fatherhood wage and the concept of part-time work. Fathers receive a fatherhood wage premium, which means that men who are fathers receive more money than men who aren’t fathers. This pay gap is the same difference between women who are mothers and women who aren’t mothers. On the other hand, men who are fathers still are getting paid more than women who are also mothers. This is because they wanna give more pay to those who are the “breadwinners” of a family which they assume is men. 

Moving on to part-time, studies have shown that women often choose to move to part-time employment or to step out of a career promotion pathway in order to have more time for motherhood and childcare when their children are young. However, women who have taken the part-time and want to commit to a full-time job are often forced to accept a lower wage compared to the wage they would have earned if they committed and stayed in their original job. 

In an article called World Economic Forum, it says “According to the ILO, women account for about 57% of global part-time work, and the earnings gap between comparable full-time and part-time work is in the order of 10%.” This quote explains that women (who have children) are most likely to take a part-time job and because of that, it’s one of the reasons why it was made legal for the motherhood and fatherhood pay gap.

This pay gap is discriminatory and that ultimately affects the whole family because there are families where the woman is the main breadwinner. Even though there has been improvement in women’s rights, we still haven’t fully achieved equality. Eliminating the pay gap will help us to reach a more equal and inclusive world.