Anyone who thinks Clinton helped women achieve financial equality is, well, mistaken, according to Washington Post.
washingtonpost.com Salary Gap Growing, Study Says
By Shannon Henry
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 24, 2002; Page A09
Female managers are not only making less money than men in many industries, but the wage gap has deepened during the economic boom years of 1995 to 2000, a congressional study to be released today reports.
Full-time female managers earned on average less than their male counterparts in the 10 industries that employ 71 percent of all female workers, and in seven of the 10 fields, the pay difference widened.
Just when it seemed the wage gap was a relic of another time, the backward earnings slide alarmed the two congressional members who requested and analyzed the report.
"I don't find one line of good news in the report," said Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.). "Yet I think people believe women are doing better."
"I can't tell you why," said Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) about the report's findings. "There are more questions raised by the study, frankly, than answers."
The study, prepared by the General Accounting Office, found that a full-time female communications manager earned 86 cents for every dollar a male made in her industry in 1995. In 2000, she made only 73 cents on the man's dollar.
The industries under study included public administration; professional medical services; hospitals and medical services; education; entertainment and recreation services; finance, insurance and real estate; business and repair services; retail trade; and other professional services.
The study also reported that women in management positions find it more difficult than men to balance family and career. About 60 percent of married female managers do not have children at home, while 40 percent of married male managers are not raising children.
"I really did believe it would be easier for our daughters," Maloney said yesterday at a lunch with female reporters and editors where the report was released in advance.
Maloney said the report's findings are particularly troubling because there is a general sense in the United States that generation by generation, women have been edging closer to equality with men in many areas, including career and compensation.
"It's a wake-up call, not only for corporate America but all of America," she said.
Dingell and Maloney said the study brings up many questions that may be addressed by regulations or legislation in the future, including an examination of maternity-leave policies and a fresh look at the Equal Rights Amendment. The lawmakers said they also planned to analyze data from the 2000 Census that is expected out later this year.
Still, as bleak as the study seemed, some cautioned against interpreting the findings as a significant blow to gender equality.
"It's possible a lot more junior women are entering those industries, therefore lowering the average age and the average wage," said Diana Furchtgott-Roth, chief of staff of the council of economic advisers at the White House and co-author of "The Feminist Dilemma: When Success is Not Enough."
"That's curious, but it tells us nothing in particular," said Ed Hudgins, director of regulatory studies at the Cato Institute in Washington. Hudgins said he knows a number of professional women who have taken time off to have children, which, along with other economic and cultural patterns, could possibly explain the division.
This report is the latest study to show obstacles facing women in the working world. Catalyst of New York, a nonprofit group that studies women's issues, reported in 2000 that among senior-level managers in the financial-services industry, 58 percent of women are raising children while 88 percent of men have kids at home.
"It begs the question 'Do women and men have the same choices?'‚" said Johanna Ramos-Boyer of Catalyst. Ramos-Boyer also pointed to findings that show the gender gap in the workplace is, at least in some corners, improving; a recent Catalyst study found that in 2001, 12.4 percent of corporate board seats were held by women, up from 8.3 percent in 1993.
Pay studies that account for an employee's education level and their time in the workforce and at a particular job are often the most reliable measures of gender gap, said John Dantico of the Society for Human Resource Management.
Compensation expert Allison Sumrow of Dallas-based People Solutions Inc. said pay inequities still exist. Pay differential often widens when women enter a company with low starting salaries, she said. Subsequent raises women earn are added to the low base figure, offering few chances to make up ground.
Staff writer Carrie Johnson contributed to this report.
© 2002 The Washington Post Company |
