By Schwanda Rountree, Erica Roberts, and Amira Dehmani
In the first part of this series, we discussed the wage gap and how it has formed and changed over time and in different industries. Gender discrimination continues to persist in the United States and heavily contributes to the pay gap. When comparing men and women of equal educational attainment, experience, and income bracket, we still see high levels of pay disparity. In addition, The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) receives and hears thousands of gender discrimination cases each year, highlighting that gender discrimination in hiring, treatment, and compensation remains a clear and prevalent problem.
This Is an Intersectional Issue
The gender pay gap is exacerbated when seen through an intersectional lens. Intersectionality refers to how more than one protected characteristic of an individual interacts to create a form of discrimination that others don’t experience. Below are a few examples of how the gender pay gap is impacted by intersectional bias:
Race. For all races, women are paid less than their male counterparts. White women are paid 81% of what their white male counterparts make, yet this number is even worse for women of color. Black women are paid 64% of what white men are paid; Native American women are paid 59%, and Latinas are the worst off, being paid 55% of what white men are paid.
Age. According to the AAUW 2018 Report, “for full-time workers ages 20–24, women were paid 90 percent of what men were paid on a weekly basis… Women 55–64 years old are paid 78 percent as much as men in the same age range, a gap that is more than double the gap for women ages 20–24.”
Sexuality and Gender Orientation. On average, LGBTQ+ workers make 10% less in median income than the typical worker; however, the impacts of the pay gap differ within the community. Gay men are often paid less than their straight counterparts, yet lesbians tend to earn more than straight women. This is believed to occur due to their lesser odds of having children, akin to the “motherhood penalty” discussed in Part I of this series. Bisexual persons also appear to earn less due to discrimination.
The AAUW 2018 Report found that “people who transition from male to female gender expression experience a drop in pay after the transition, while those who transition from female to male gender expression see no difference in pay or even a small increase.” Notably, these statistics are compounded when looking at LGBTQ+ persons of color.
The Wage Gap and Disabilities
Disability. According to the National Women’s Law Center, women with disabilities participate in the labor force at a rate three times less than men without disabilities. Women with disabilities who do participate full-time in the workforce receive 67 cents for every dollar of a man without disabilities. When compared to men with disabilities, women with disabilities make 72 cents for every dollar a man makes.
The gender pay gap has been and continues to be a large problem in the United States, especially when accounting for race, age, sexual orientation and sexual identity, and disability. In the next part of this series, we will discuss what lies on the horizon in widespread attempts to lessen the gap and what protections workers have for ensuring their rights.
If you believe that you are experiencing pay discrimination because of your gender, race, disability, or another protected class, please feel free to fill out our online intake form to contact an experienced discrimination attorney at our firm today.