united coalition of the universal sisterhood of equality and fairness, and a fat paycheck too

the american association of university women released a study this week showing that women still make less then their male counterparts at work, and the pay gap widens the longer women work. this has been a known fact for a long time, but the fact that it's not getting better is a bit concerning to me.

women that attend highly selective colleges (on average) make about the same as men who attend minimally selective colleges. so that means i can go ivy league and some dude who goes to state will make the same pay as me. and it's not just the old "women are teachers and nurses" story either. these researchers actually took into account all personal choices that both men and women make (i.e. occupation, children, family, marital status, race)...and when all of those are equal, women still make 20% less than men.

the national women's law center put together a report as well, with this gem of a story:

"In the largest employment discrimination suit ever filed, female employees have sued Wal-Mart for paying women less than men for similar work and using an old boys’ network for promotions that prevented women’s career advancement. One woman alleged that when she complained of the pay disparity, her manager said that women would never make as much as men because "God made Adam first." Another woman alleged that when she applied for a raise, her manager said, "Men are here to make a career, and women aren’t. Retail is for housewives who just need to earn extra money." The Ninth Circuit recently reaffirmed the case as a class action on behalf of more than 1.5 million women who are current and former employees of Wal-Mart."

wow - remind me to not make my career at wal-mart.

but seriously, the only way this pay gap will decrease is if employers are forced to uphold certain standards of employee benefits. obviously, they can't fire a pregnant woman or something that off-the-wall, but legislation could make it much more difficult for companies to get away with it. like reporting all wages, allowing open communication between co-workers about salaries, and making employers provide detailed information when they are paying a man more than a woman.

well, that's enough of my feminist rant for today. join me tomorrow for "why women shouldn't always have to be the one to carry the baby."