It’s no surprise that in the majority of job sectors across the United States, men out-earn women in terms of wages and salary. However, recent reports have found that there are specific locations in the U.S. where women make more money than men.
Women in these locations were found to have better pay in two job sectors: dining attendants or assistants, and wholesale and retail workers. The concentrated locations where this information was gathered were from Lake Worth, Florida., Plainfield and Trenton, New Jersey, Inglewood, California., Hempstead, New York, Chamblee, Georgia, and Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Business Insider reported that there were an estimated 68,783 women working as retail buyers who made around $41,637 compared to a man’s $41,612.
“The gender and racial segregation of the U.S. labor market has concentrated women, particularly women of color, in low paying jobs,” said Ariane Hegewisch, program director at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. “Even when they do work in high paying occupations, women earn significantly less than men.”
According to a 2017 Pew Research report, more millennial households were found to be in poverty when compared to households of older generations. MarketWatch went on to report that young millennial women living in affordable homes in the commuter suburbs were making more than their male counterparts. This was mainly due to the fact that if they lived places outside the city that necessitated a longer commute, they could save a substantial amount on rent costs.
While it’s admirable that these two women-dominated industries allow women to out-earn their male counterparts, the bottom line of location is another example of the U.S. conundrum of keeping the poor poor and the rich richer.
Although the initial report was for Equal Pay Day, the reality is that the ongoing fight for equity and equality between sexes is not about out-earning men. It’s about being compensated fairly for the work you’ve done and being provided with opportunities to climb the career ladder in the same way that men are.
Featured Image by Christian Heilmann on Flickr
Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
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