For centuries, gender roles have placed women in the position of the homemaker. While men were the breadwinner, women were seen as the ones who stayed home and took care of the children. Their value was and often is, still to this day, judged by their appearance and their homemaking skills, rather than their true abilities. While times have changed and progress has been made, women continue to face adversities in society and the workplace.
The gender pay gap is the difference between the average earnings of men and women, a significant issue that is still prevalent today. Around the world, women make 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. Of course, this number varies according to the country and level of development. Women’s labour in the workforce, and society in general, is often undervalued. They are paid less for equal levels of skill and effort. Among the most affected are mothers, immigrant women and women of colour, who suffer from even lower levels of pay.
History
While it still exists today, the gender pay gap has significantly decreased since the 20th century. During World War One, women were able to carry out jobs that were conventionally carried out by men. These jobs included postal workers, clerks and firefighters. Although women were recruited mainly because men were off on the frontlines, their work founded a new appreciation for working women. During the war, women’s employment rates increased from 23.6% in 1914 to between 37.7% and 46.7% in 1918.
Since women were paid less than men, there was the assumption that once the men returned from war, the women would be the ideal employees because of their lower wages. However, this was not the case. Instead, women were either still employed- albeit paid at a far lower rate than men, or they were let go to make space for the men to work.
Similar events took place during the Second World War, where women worked and were able to earn money. However, they were still paid significantly less than men. Rosie the Riveter was created during this time. Rosie is an allegorical cultural icon in the ‘We Can Do It!’ posters. She represents the equality between men and women- that women can carry out the same tasks as men. So if the argument has been that women can accomplish the same work as men- why should they be willing to work at lower rates?
The World War events that contributed to the rise of women in the workplace are quite Eurocentric. In other parts of the world, the data is limited. However, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2023, it’s estimated that it will take 149 years to achieve gender parity in Southern Asia, 53 years in Latin America and the Caribbean, 167 years for the Eurasia and Central Asia region, 189 years for East Asia and the Pacific, 102 years in Sub-Saharan Africa, and 152 years in the Middle East and North Africa. Although progress has been made in the last few centuries, there’s still a lot to be done to close the gender inequality gap.
The BBC
In 2019, Samira Ahmed, the presenter of the BBC program Newswatch, made an equal pay claim against the BBC. She claimed that she was paid significantly less (£700,000 to be exact) compared to her coworker Jeremy Vine, the BBC presenter of Points of View. The employment tribunal concluded that the work of Ahmed and Vine were similar in terms of work, skills and experiences needed to present the two programs. And yet, Ahmed was paid far less- for reasons that the BBC claimed weren’t related to gender.
The BBC claimed that Jeremy Vine was paid a higher salary for several reasons including Jeremy’s reputation, the different market rates payable for the two presenters and their programs, the presenters’ broadcasting range and experience, and the differences in nature and profile of the two programs. However, the tribunal found that the BBC was unable to prove any of these differences.
Thus, Samira Ahmed’s claim was successful. Eventually, on February 24th, 2020, it was announced that the BBC reached a settlement agreement with Ahmed. Samira and the BBC continued to work together after the case, but neither of them commented further on the settlement.
Closing the gender pay gap
The gender pay gap continues to affect the future lives of women, as receiving lower pay rates leads to disparities in retirement facilities and benefits between men and women. From the beginning, social norms and cultures have affected the pay rate differences. It’s time to break those beliefs that men are the breadwinner, and that women must stay home to take care of the children.
According to the United Nations, at the current progress rate, the gender pay gap won’t be closed until 2069. Securing laws on equal pay around the world can significantly contribute to closing the gap.
For instance, in Finland, the constitution and legislation heavily focus on equal pay through the Equality Act. Finland established an Equal Pay Program which aims to bring the gender pay gap down to 12% by 2025. Moreover, it’s not only up to a country’s government to reduce the gender pay gap, employers play a significant role in this as well. As Samira’s BBC case highlighted, companies need to recognize the value that women bring to the table and acknowledge that value by paying them fairly and equally.