How many times have you seen men being given a raise that you deserved, but the only thing standing between you and that is the gender difference? Even if you don’t say it out loud, it has happened many times. Not just with you but many other women in the world.
While things have improved in the workplace, there’s still a long way to go.
The gender gap comes in many different forms and styles: unequal pay, sexual harassment, disparity in promotion, sexism, and whatnot. While it's true that the gender gap exists for men at some places, it happens on a much larger scale for women that affects them in many ways.
Women Getting Less Income
When you’re being paid less for the same job and responsibilities as your male counterparts, it’s only natural for you to have less money overall. While it might seem like a minor difference, it’s essential to understand how this small inequality results in dire consequences for women.
According to a study, women never earn more than 83% of their male counterparts' median earnings, resulting in less earnings overall. Now understand how this gap continues to grow with time.
For instance, Anny and Mike start as sales executives for a company with a gross wage of $40 an hour. On the first evaluation, Mike gets bumped to $80, whereas Anny gets a raise of $60. For the same tasks and responsibilities with equally competitive performance, there’s an inequality of $20. As their increment progresses with time, this gap continues to grow wider, and at the next raise, Mike reaches $120, whereas Anny is at $85.
This example depicts how women work just as hard as men, but due to the gender gap, they stay behind their male counterparts.
Solution: Having less income means having less money for fixed expenses, less savings, and less to spend on yourself. Sadly, the only solution here as of now is for women to earn more money through other means. They can either ask for raises or negotiate for a higher salary when they know their male counterparts get it too.
Or, women can seek out employers that use transparent formulas to determine the raise by asking them to publicize the pay rates. When the company fears publication of their pay scales for men and women in similar roles, it can increase women’s chances of getting equal pay. It’s not an easy solution, but hey, being a woman in today’s world isn’t easy either yet we continue to nail it every day!
Women Face More Financial Issues Than Men
Since women are earning less than men, it’s no surprise that they’re more likely to face financial problems due to the diminished flow of income. The deprivation only continues to grow if women have a family to support, such as single mothers with children or aged parents.
According to a study by Ascent’s research, it was found that women live in a higher level of poverty. In percentage terms, it’s 13.6% of women as opposed to 11% of men.
However, when looking at female-headed households, the discrepancy only continues to grow compared to families led by males or married couples. A total of 25.7% of female-led households live in poverty, whereas for men, it’s 4.9% and 12.4% for married couples.
Women need to ensure that they take full advantage of the government benefit support and programs available to help them overcome their financial losses. In the case of being a single mother, they should approach the authorities when appropriate to seek child support from the child's father. While it might be a small contribution, it does relieve some burden off the mother in a female-headed household.
Women are Less Prepared for Retirement
The amount you’re able to save for your retirement is directly connected with the amount of money you’re earning on a daily basis. When women earn less and have more expenses to bear, it eventually results in them having less cash to spare for retirement savings.
Unfortunately, what adds to this inequality is that Social Security benefits are also based on lifetime wages; women receive less Social Security benefits on an average than men. For example, a woman who’s 65 years old or more receives $14,353 on average, whereas a man gets $18,041, according to Ascent’s research.
This difference of $3,688 per year can potentially help women with many things, such as housing expenses, medication, or other retirement expenses.
The only option available is for women to prioritize retirement savings to secure their future. Eventually, this leaves women with the option of working two jobs or extra time to get more pay to save for their retirement funds, but that’s the cost of the gender gap women have to pay.
Another solution here is to maximize their Social Security benefits to the utmost stretch. For example, the benefits for Social Security are based on the average wages of their lifetime, so they can ensure they work for a full 35 years time span to save more.
Is this Fair?
Being discriminated against during promotions and appraisals due to gender, race, or harassment is not fair for anyone. While there are some major improvements from where it all began, there’s a long way to go where women have to fight for our rights and what we deserve constantly. And the team at Hustle Mama Magazine understands and supports this struggle.
Their main motive at this magazine is to empower women by voicing concerns that other magazines might only think of. They have proven themselves as the best magazine for young women because they stand up for what’s right. It’s not always easy, but it needs to be done. Whether it’s relationship advice you need or ideas for a fun party, they have got you covered. And when it comes to serious issues like the gender gap or tips for women entrepreneurs, Hustle Mama does it all.
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