What, why, and how to fix the gender pay gap?

You’ve all seen such ubiquitous hashtags on social media platforms. And all such hashtags talk about gender discrimination. The gender pay gap and gender equity in the workplace have been the pain point of the corporate world for a very long time. Since the second half of the 20th century, women’s participation has grown significantly across different industry domains. Women are working longer hours and pursuing higher education in great numbers. However, despite this progress, women are paid less than men. And that is where the gender pay gap comes into the picture. So, what exactly is the gender pay gap? What drives it? And how can the organizations address it? This blog post provides an answer to all such questions and more.

Finding out WHAT the gender wage gap is?

The gender pay gap is wider than you thought. In simple terms, it refers to the difference in earnings between men and women. It can be calculated in many ways, and it is found that women constantly earn less than men. If you look at the stats, it is found that women of all races earned, on average, just 82 cents against $1 earned by men of all races. Similarly, female employees working in the retail trade managed to earn $632 per week on average, while male employees earned $747 per week in the U.S. The above stats indicate that women's earnings are less in nearly 300+ occupations than men's. There are only a few occupations where women earn slightly more than their male counterparts, which shows the gender wage gap by industry. Women make less money than men in different industries in the U.S. According to the research from howmuch, median male earnings were approximately $45,893 compared to women, who made approximately $32,436. This shows that women earn hardly 70% of what men earn. Take a look at the visual below.