One more thing to add to every woman’s list of favorite things to do (which includes but is not limited to: cleaning up after everyone else, listening to her boss mansplain every other day, and being catcalled at every intersection she passes) is fix the wage gap.
A recent survey revealed that more women in executive positions are aiming to give themselves a raise next year in hopes of taking another step towards closing the wage gap, because while waiting around for men to fix our problems sounds great and has definitely not been the equivalent of walking around in circles for centuries, we just don’t have that kind of patience anymore.
Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash
According to Harvard Business Review, women in power have discovered “what they’re worth” and therefore decided to pay themselves more. This could definitely lead to a ripple effect, which would, in turn, resolve the issue of the wage gap in America.
Women executives don’t already have enough stress on their plate, so why not toss the responsibility of solving the pay gap crisis into their hands? They’ve probably been affected by this issue at some point in their careers. Darn, being a badass lady is so hard when it turns out you’re causing you’re own problems and can fix them with one simple move. Why hasn’t anyone mainsplained to us that the secret to closing the gap is giving ourselves a bigger paycheck?
The decision to pay themselves more is an excellent one when considering the problematic reality of the wage gap. As of 2016, women make 80.6 cents for every dollar a man makes. While this is a bit more than the 79.6 cents of 2015, it is still a significant gap that adds up when comparing a man’s yearly salary to a woman’s. What better way for women to fight against this wage gap than to take matters into their own hands? Considering that plenty of men deny that a wage gap even exists, it seems like an adequate solution.
The fact of the matter is, women on top do have the power to give themselves (and other women employees) a raise to level the playing field between men and women. It would only be the right thing to do, considering the wage gap widens with higher-paying jobs.
There are still many obstacles standing in the way of the wage gap coming to a close, even with the responsibility (apparently) falling onto women in power.
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For instance, some women are afraid to give themselves and their women employees a raise, or at least the same salary as their male employees. Many women executives simply do not value their own work as much as male executives do; they know the work they do is valuable, but they simply don’t give themselves credit where it is due.
Another issue that stands in the way of women in power ending the gap rests in the numbers. It is true that women CEOs make enough money and have enough power to ensure fairness in their own companies. They have done everything necessary to succeed in their field, make it to the top, and get their fair paycheck. However, male CEOs outnumber their women counterparts by far, and the majority of working women in the United States still suffer at the hands of the wage gap.
Yes, leaving the colossal responsibility of ending the wage gap to women in power seems like a fantastic and obvious solution. Unfortunately, this is far easier said than done. Even if every woman on top ensured equality in terms of pay for their female employees, the majority of American women would still remain victims of the wage gap.
Featured Image by Brooke Lark on Unsplash
