Earlier this month I attended a press conference on the new Government Accountability Office watchdog report “Gender Pay Differences: Progress Made but Women Remain Overrepresented among Low-Wage Workers.” Unfortunately, the disparity in the wage-gap continues to be very alarming.
In 2000, a similar report found that less-educated women earned 81 cents for every dollar men earned. By 2010, the pay gap shrunk by five cents to 86 cents per dollar. Unfortunately, that small feat is not enough; there’s still more work to do. In the current report, women were overrepresented among low-wage workers. While women made up 49 percent of the total workforce in 2010, women accounted for 59 percent of the low-wage workforce.
The GAO researchers surveyed 14 industries and analyzed 15 occupations. They discovered that even within the same industries and occupations where women had more experience and education, women are still undervalued and underpaid. This can be discouraging to say the least. I commend Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, the former chair of the Joint Economic Committee for requesting this report in 2010. The Congresswoman’s position on this and other women’s issues around equality give so many of us hope.
However, when I hear startling statistics like these, I cannot help but to reflect on my own personal experience. While growing up, I remember hearing how important and valuable education was to securing a decent future for me and my family. Hearing those words evoked both the passion and desire for me to strive. However, having secured a college degree and currently working on two master’s degrees, I can’t help but to wonder will I (we) ever catch up? Will we ever be armed with the right amount of education and experience to be able to fairly and equally compete? Should young girls and women continue on the path to prosperity chasing the false hope of prosperity with looming statistics like these dancing alongside our journey?
I realize these questions are heavy and could take literally an act of Congress to get answered. But as a single mother and the head of my household, I can’t help but to seek answers to these questions as those answers impact the decisions I make for my family every day.
In the meantime and until those questions are answered, I will continue to arm myself with what motivates and inspires me – “be the best woman I can be,” which includes a very promising vision of me and all women being treated equally and fairly in every aspect of our lives.
Latricia Allen is the grants manager at Washington Area Women’s Foundation.
