What you need to Know

The Motherhood Penalty

Even though it’s illegal for employers to base wages or benefits on gender, it’s unfortunately still a predominant practice in many workplaces. One of the common excuses some establishment give is that the women take time off for maternity leave, or to take care of their children. This excuse doesn’t consider the fact that as women are mothers, men are fathers. Instead, fathers get bonuses while mothers get pay cuts.

Hiding the Disparities

Recent studies have shown that despite what these establishments claim, women are affected by the wage gap as soon as they enter the workforce. Despite race, age, educational levels, and experience, women are generally paid less for the same work as men. In private sectors, the National Labor Relations Act and some employee policies make it harder to discover pay differences, as they prohibit employees from discussing wages.

What Others Have Done

In a bid to narrow the wage gap, some countries have introduced paid maternity leaves and increased access to contraception. This practice enables them to invest in child care and control their fertility so that they can have profitable work hours and increased representation in their careers. Some have also introduced paternity leaves to reduce the workload of childcare. That way, both parents are involved, and the time away from work gets shortened.

Achieving Equal Pay

To achieve this in our society, women must first have awareness. Some of them have grown to accept it because they’ve grown to see it as usual, where it isn’t. There should also be no discrimination in male-dominated fields. Women should be allowed to go after any career without feeling like they are less capable due to their gender.

Reproductive and Child Care

The availability of affordable and quality child care should increase. Employers should establish regular schedules that enable mothers to meet up with their caregiving responsibilities, as well as other obligations they have. Let’s ensure that women have access to the best possible reproductive healthcare no matter who and where they are. Primarily, paid family and medical leaves should be available as well.

Increased Wages and Unionization

Let’s reinforce equal pay laws and workers should be allowed to join unions so that they can fight against pay discrimination. Also, the salaries of women at jobs where they are currently earning lower than the men doing the same things should increase. This approach reduces inequality and encourages fairness for all.

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