COVID-19 and Its Effect on the Gender Pay Gap
By: Mariana Casas
(Credit: Jasu Hu; The Economist)
If I were to be a woman in the United States living in the 1800’s, I probably would be expected to grow up and become a traditional housewife. I would probably dedicate the majority of my time taking care of the kids, cooking, and cleaning for the whole family, and of course, if I would even have thought about having a job of my own, I would be considered crazy and irrational. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century, as the women’s era surfaced, that women started to demand certain rights and opportunities that they did not possess.
By 1940, when World War II was being fought, and a large number of men left their households due to their involvement in the war, women began to occupy the jobs that the men had left behind. Hundreds of thousands of women started to work, and despite the fact that they were performing similar jobs as men did prior to the war, they were paid considerably less for the sole reason of being women.
Even though it is a fact that gender equality has advanced enormously throughout the years, the gender pay gap is still a huge obstacle in today’s society: a century later, in 2020, in the midst of a pandemic. Apart from the notorious unfortunate events that have been brought in consequence of the COVID-19 crisis that humanity is currently facing—from lockdown restrictions to the loss of millions of lives throughout the entire world—the gender pay gap also seems to be in a rough state, becoming wider and wider each day in the United States. The reason behind the phenomenon of the increasing breach between the salaries of women and men lay in two main factors.
As of today, it is known that women dominate the service industry over the population of employed men in the United States. According to an extensive research regarding gender differences in sectors of employment by the Status of Woman in the State, employment in services such as health care, non-governmental education, leisure and other services account for more than four in ten women’s jobs (nationally 43.2%), but only one in four men’s jobs (nationally 24.8%). Other industries such as the construction, manufacturing, transportation and communication industries are all dominated by men. This data suggests that countries that have large service sectors tend to have more women employment and a lower gender pay gap. Because of the fact that occupations in the service area are high in customer contact, and with COVID restrictions becoming stricter each day, many women were placed in a situation where they had to be laid off from their jobs. For some women, this would be a temporary situation, but unfortunately, for many others, it would become a permanent separation.
The second factor involves a similar condition as in the former aspect, where women are being compelled to leave their jobs due to conditions they have no control over. Working mothers are considered to be the group mostly affected within the gender pay gap, considering that non-mother workers are much closer to reaching and obtaining equal opportunities when it comes to salaries and promotions as men. And, as previously mentioned, the thousands of jobs lost during quarantine have severely impacted women, especially those with children at home.
Most commonly (in a heterosexual couple), women are usually the partners who are in charge of the tasks that involve childcare, and even though many fathers have now slowly taken upon this role, according to the Pew Research Center, in 2016, the percentage of stay-at-home dads was 7%, compared to a whopping 27% of stay-at-home moms, which confirms that it is indeed the mother who, in most cases, is obligated to give up her work status in order to supervise the children back at home. On the other hand, we cannot forget to mention single working mothers, who might stumble across a much more difficult scenario, being a single parent responsible for providing economic support and childcare at the same time.
Mothers from across the nation are facing the dilemma of either staying at home with their families, or prioritizing the workforce. In addition to the gender inequalities that have surfaced because of the current crisis we are dealing with, income inequality has taken the spotlight during these tough times as well. While either of the two options previously mentioned might be a difficult decision to make for rich and wealthy families, it is far more burdensome for households that receive low income, and could even be considered as an impossible decision for mothers or families who live from hand-to-mouth.
Ever since the beginning of time, women were not considered capable enough to belong in the labor force alongside men. Not until only a century ago, women were beginning to take action and to participate in different jobs and activities they never thought they would be able to take on in such a restrictive and patriarchal environment. In more current times, in 2016, over 74.6 million women engaged in the workforce, a number that was predicted to steadily increase in future years. The Coronavirus outbreak has definitely forced a pause in the long process of shortening the gender pay gap, and it could even cause society to move backwards. But, in regards to gender equality and the gender pay gap, how far back will this pandemic actually take us? And how much time will it take for society to recover from the unfortunate series of events presented by—the world’s current enemy—COVID-19?
If I were to be a woman in the United States living in the 1800’s, I probably would be expected to grow up and become a traditional housewife. I would probably dedicate the majority of my time taking care of the kids, cooking, and cleaning for the whole family, and of course, if I would even have thought about having a job of my own, I would be considered crazy and irrational. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century, as the women’s era surfaced, that women started to demand certain rights and opportunities that they did not possess.
By 1940, when World War II was being fought, and a large number of men left their households due to their involvement in the war, women began to occupy the jobs that the men had left behind. Hundreds of thousands of women started to work, and despite the fact that they were performing similar jobs as men did prior to the war, they were paid considerably less for the sole reason of being women.
Even though it is a fact that gender equality has advanced enormously throughout the years, the gender pay gap is still a huge obstacle in today’s society: a century later, in 2020, in the midst of a pandemic. Apart from the notorious unfortunate events that have been brought in consequence of the COVID-19 crisis that humanity is currently facing—from lockdown restrictions to the loss of millions of lives throughout the entire world—the gender pay gap also seems to be in a rough state, becoming wider and wider each day in the United States. The reason behind the phenomenon of the increasing breach between the salaries of women and men lay in two main factors.
As of today, it is known that women dominate the service industry over the population of employed men in the United States. According to an extensive research regarding gender differences in sectors of employment by the Status of Woman in the State, employment in services such as health care, non-governmental education, leisure and other services account for more than four in ten women’s jobs (nationally 43.2%), but only one in four men’s jobs (nationally 24.8%). Other industries such as the construction, manufacturing, transportation and communication industries are all dominated by men. This data suggests that countries that have large service sectors tend to have more women employment and a lower gender pay gap. Because of the fact that occupations in the service area are high in customer contact, and with COVID restrictions becoming stricter each day, many women were placed in a situation where they had to be laid off from their jobs. For some women, this would be a temporary situation, but unfortunately, for many others, it would become a permanent separation.
The second factor involves a similar condition as in the former aspect, where women are being compelled to leave their jobs due to conditions they have no control over. Working mothers are considered to be the group mostly affected within the gender pay gap, considering that non-mother workers are much closer to reaching and obtaining equal opportunities when it comes to salaries and promotions as men. And, as previously mentioned, the thousands of jobs lost during quarantine have severely impacted women, especially those with children at home.
Most commonly (in a heterosexual couple), women are usually the partners who are in charge of the tasks that involve childcare, and even though many fathers have now slowly taken upon this role, according to the Pew Research Center, in 2016, the percentage of stay-at-home dads was 7%, compared to a whopping 27% of stay-at-home moms, which confirms that it is indeed the mother who, in most cases, is obligated to give up her work status in order to supervise the children back at home. On the other hand, we cannot forget to mention single working mothers, who might stumble across a much more difficult scenario, being a single parent responsible for providing economic support and childcare at the same time.
Mothers from across the nation are facing the dilemma of either staying at home with their families, or prioritizing the workforce. In addition to the gender inequalities that have surfaced because of the current crisis we are dealing with, income inequality has taken the spotlight during these tough times as well. While either of the two options previously mentioned might be a difficult decision to make for rich and wealthy families, it is far more burdensome for households that receive low income, and could even be considered as an impossible decision for mothers or families who live from hand-to-mouth.
Ever since the beginning of time, women were not considered capable enough to belong in the labor force alongside men. Not until only a century ago, women were beginning to take action and to participate in different jobs and activities they never thought they would be able to take on in such a restrictive and patriarchal environment. In more current times, in 2016, over 74.6 million women engaged in the workforce, a number that was predicted to steadily increase in future years. The Coronavirus outbreak has definitely forced a pause in the long process of shortening the gender pay gap, and it could even cause society to move backwards. But, in regards to gender equality and the gender pay gap, how far back will this pandemic actually take us? And how much time will it take for society to recover from the unfortunate series of events presented by—the world’s current enemy—COVID-19?