Statistics from a think tank (the Economic Policy Institute) indicate that, in recent years, the pay gap between the genders has been widening when it comes to young college-educated workers. The gap had a particularly big increase over the past year, with the average pay for young female college graduates dropping from 84 percent to around 79 percent of the average pay for young male college graduates between last year and this year.
The statistics also indicate that inflation-adjusted average pay levels have been trending in opposite directions for young college-educated male workers and young college-educated female workers over around the past decade and a half. Specifically, such pay levels have been trending upward for male workers, but downward for female workers.
Many things can potentially contribute to wage gaps and wage trend differences between genders. What do you think is behind the above-mentioned wage gap widening and opposite pay trends?
Certain things that can bring wage-gaps between genders about or widen them are generally illegal under federal law. These things include an employer paying workers of one sex less than workers of the other for equal work in the same workplace and employers discriminating against workers on the basis of gender when it comes to their pay. How common do you think these types of illegal pay conduct currently are?
The federal laws prohibiting such gender-based pay conduct have various complex aspects and proving that violations of these laws occurred can pose a range of challenges. So, when a worker believes that their employer is treating them unequally/unfairly when it comes to pay because of their gender, they may want a skilled employment law attorney’s help when trying to take legal action to address the employer’s conduct.
Source: Houston Chronicle, “Gender pay gap widens for young workers,” Danielle Paquette, April 29, 2016
