Do young women earn more than men in certain places? in some cases, up to 20% more. Why has wage inequality reversed in some regions?
The US state of West Virginia is often remembered for its coal mines and rural roads, but not for its role in the gender pay gap debate.
The Morgantown metropolitan area, home to West Virginia University, is one of several places in the country, according to a new study by the US think tank Pew Research Center that analyzed US census data. where women earn more than men.
The average salary of female full-time workers under 30 in this region is 14% higher than the average salary of men in the same age group. In fact, this city in the Appalachians ranks second only to the city of Wenatchee, Washington, on the list of 10 metropolitan areas where women under 30 earn relatively higher wages.
Nationally, the gender pay gap persists. On average, American women make up 82% of men’s wages. However, women’s wages are equal or better in 22 of the 250 metropolitan areas surveyed.
Why do women earn more than men in such certain areas of the United States? And do these promising numbers in certain regions mean that the salary gap is slowly closing?
education and industry
According to Richard Fry, a senior researcher at Pew Research Center and author of the report, there are some patterns that help explain these findings.
The first factor is education. According to Fry, where women earn as much or more than men (mostly cities on the east and west coasts of the United States), the percentage of young women with college degrees is higher. “Wage inequality tends to be lower in metropolitan areas where young women have more educational benefits,” she says. “College degrees tend to increase earnings by reducing the salary gap.”
This variable may explain, at least in part, why certain cities in Florida and West Virginia make the list of the 10 metro regions with the highest salaries for women, despite high average disparities of 15% and 26% in their states. %, respectively.
“Morgantown is a college town,” says Fry, “as is Gainesville, Florida… with many major universities in the 22 metro districts where women are paid equal or better.”
A greater number of higher paying jobs can be found in these cities. What’s more, according to Fry, women who stay in these metropolises after graduation tend to earn more thanks to this “educational advantage.”
Education is probably what put Wenatchee, Washington State at the top of the list, at least in part. There, the average annual salary of women is 120% of that of young men.
According to Fry, “I believe 60 percent of women in Washington have a college degree.” “So we’re really talking about a workforce of well-educated young women in Washington.”
Another factor influencing the wage gap is the type of employment and industries that dominate certain geographic regions. The second largest employer in Wenatchee is local schools in the metropolitan area, and in the United States, women occupy more than three-quarters of jobs in the education sector.
The share of women in industrial jobs is below 30%. As a result, factories are among the top employers in several metropolitan areas where the salary gap is the widest, including Saginaw (Michigan), Decatur (Illinois), and Mansfield (Ohio).
“The metro area with the largest pay gap is Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana, where young women earn only 67% of men’s wages,” Fry says. It is known as the “caravan capital of the world”.
In fact, more than 80% of the world’s trailer or recreational vehicle production takes place in the northern Indiana region near the Michigan border. “There are many industries out there that can have consequences for young women’s wages compared to men,” Fry says.
maternity factor
When or if women decide to have children can affect a geographic region’s pay gap.
Across the country and around the world, including in countries like the UK, women face “birth penalty”, which widens the pay gap. Women earn even less than men when they become mothers (while men see their salaries increase when they become fathers). Estimates show that mothers only account for 70% of fathers’ salary.
According to Alexandra Killewald, professor of sociology at Harvard University, motherhood is actually an important factor influencing wage gap statistics. “The estimated hourly wage penalty for being a mother is about 10% compared to what would be expected if the woman was childless,” she says.
Therefore, in some regions where women become mothers earlier, the wage gap widens. In Elkhart, Indiana (the country with the largest pay gap), the average age at which mothers have their first child is nearly three years lower than the US national average of 26.3.
Where the average age at which mothers give birth to their first child is lower, the wage gap is larger and vice versa. For example, in metropolitan areas of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, women make up 102% of men’s wages. And in Manhattan, which is in that geographic area, the average age of mothers with their first child is over 31.
“Over time, we saw mothers having children later and later, and a certain decrease in the number of children,” Killewald says. “This means more women take longer to become mothers and spend most of their working lives childless.” That’s why women stay in the labor market longer and their wages follow men’s, she explains.
But according to Killewald, about 85% of American women will one day become mothers, regardless of where they live. And in terms of the wage gap, it tends to increase after the birth of children.
Progress or not
While the new data bodes well for women in many places, there’s a caveat: The Pew Research Center report only examines data for women ages 16 to 29, but historical patterns suggest that inequality begins to increase after age 30.
Fry talks about comparative data that can help paint a picture of the future. “In 2000, young women under 30 accounted for 88% of young men’s wages.”
Another 2019 study by the same group concluded that “they are between 35 and 48 years old and earn a salary equivalent to 80% of the salary of men of the same age.” [Por isso,] If today’s young women follow a similar pattern as in the past, the pay gap will tend to widen.”
But Fry cautions that this is just an estimate based on data from another generation. Killewald also claims that this could be evidence of a longer trend. “Since 1990, progress towards wage parity has been slower than it was between 1980 and 1990, but there is still progress year over year,” he says. “I think there are reasons to be optimistic.”
And he says some of that par may become more permanent as people, particularly younger voters, support nursery subsidies, tax credits, and other policies that benefit women in the workforce.
“For example, we might consider policies that reduce mandatory overtime or the like,” says Killewald, “that make it easier for mothers to keep working, especially in the space for these women.” progressing through their lives, or whether young women are really making progress.”
source: Noticias
