Equal Pay Will Bring Better Lives for Women

My sister is graduating from high school next week. Other than making me feel old, it also has me deeply concerned.

Women are now the majority of college graduates and, by some estimates, are responsible for 80 percent of U.S. spending. Yet despite this economic power, women are treated terribly as members of the working community.

The world my sister is preparing to enter doesn't seem to want to treat her fairly. The 2010 Census found that women make on average 81 cents for every dollar men earn in the same occupation. Of the 534 occupations tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women out-earned men in only seven.

These numbers indicate women's influence as consumers does not translate to political or social power. Controlling a vast majority of economic growth has not turned into economic security. Women have to work harder, be more competent and prove themselves far beyond the standards that are levied against men in similar positions. That's shameful.

Some dispute this evidence. They argue that the 81-cent statistic is incomplete. They say the hours aren't equal, that women take time off for maternity leave or other family reasons, that they knowingly sacrifice pay for safety, flexibility or fulfillment.

The hours are irrelevant since every job measured was full-time. And here's a sad fact: Even just a 5 percent difference on a $50,000 a year salary over the course of a career adds up to $200,000 that men earn and women do not.

If women are choosing a lower pay for reasons of safety and flexibility, it is society's responsibility to remove these barriers.
Might women feel safer if sexual harassment and assault were prosecuted with less apathy and more fervor? Might they not worry about flexibility so much if they knew that no matter what job they had, they wouldn't have to choose between starting a family and keeping a steady paycheck?

The United States is the only industrialized nation that has not mandated paid maternity leave. It's no surprise that many of those countries have a smaller pay gap than us as well.

We are stuck in the same arrogant, misogynistic thought process that allowed insurance companies to consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition and cover Viagra but not birth control.

It is the same disrespect that fueled 26,000 sexual assaults in the U.S. military last year, most of which have not been prosecuted and many of which were outright ignored.

In the second decade of the 21st century, we consider it a milestone that there are three women on the Supreme Court, 20 in the Senate and 21 as CEOs in the Fortune 500. By the way, CEOs had one of the largest pay gaps recorded, at 69 cents to the male dollar.

The upward trajectory of women so far is good news, yes. Yet, as I watch my sister cross the stage next week, I'll continue to worry that it is nearing its plateau. Removing these barriers is important, but more than that, we need to change our national mindset.

The statistics will never reflect that women are equal until they are treated as equals. Men and women have to work together to create a narrative that biological differences do not mean one gender is better or worse than the other. It begins with respect, and it needs to begin now.

Jonathan Tomczak is a junior political science and history double major and editor of the Opinion section.