Mathematically speaking it is :
100% x (Average male total remuneration - Average female total remuneration) / Average male total remuneration.
It represents the statistical difference in median or average pay between all men and women in a workforce. Typically, it's expressed as the percentage of men's earnings that women earn on average.
This gap is blieved to be a reflection of various factors such as discrimination, occupational segregation (where certain jobs are dominated by one gender), differences in negotiation for salaries, and the impact of motherhood and caregiving responsibilities. While the gender pay gap has reduced over time in many countries due to various initiatives and policies, it still persists and is a focal point in discussions surrounding gender equality and workplace fairness.
The fight for fair wages for women has been ongoing since the late 19th century. Starting in 1918, when men had gone off to the "Great War" at the time, women had to step up and work. It was then it came to the public conscious that women were getting paid less for the same work men are doing.
In 1918, female tram and bus condusctorrs staged the first recorded strike for this issue
Another example of women going on strike for this issue is when women in Iceland in 1975 just did not show up for work to show how much the businesses need them to function. This lead to a Gender Equality Council being formed and Gender Equality Act being passed.
Globalization has been widely regarded for bringing people closer together and created a global community. It is best explained by Zygmunt Bauman:
Globalization has changed the way people think about the world and themselves
This holds true on so many levels as it truly did impact every single aspect of human life knowingly or unknowingly.
Globalization has had a nuanced impact on the gender pay gap. It has led to increased occupational segregation, with women often concentrated in industries with historically lower wages. The reliance on low-wage labor in globalized industries, particularly in developing countries, has further contributed to gender pay disparities. While globalization can challenge traditional gender roles, it can also reinforce stereotypes and norms, influencing wage differentials.
In the aspect of gender wage gap, Globalization was truly a doubles edged sword. As while it did give women an equal footing within the organizations but outside the glass building where majority of the women did work, they were exploited and pushed further away from the public conscious
There still seems to be doubt whether the gap exists or not. Let's take India as a case study for this example. India with the latest data (aka 2022) and also India from 2004 when the effects of the LPG Model of 1991 and the economic reforms of the 20th century were being felt.
India In 2022
How to Read this Data?
This X Axis is each State, on the Y Axis stands for 1 - Rural Male, 2 - Rural Female, 3 - Urban Male and 4 - Urban Female. The Z Axis is the Average Wage Earning (in Rs.) received per day by Casual Labourers in works other than Public Works
This is a more abstract way of looking at data and even here it is evidently clear that rows 2 and 4 pertaining to women are on the lower side in comparison to the other two columns. The peaks in the data are from the columns of male data and the valleys are from female. This speaks metaphorically to the gap in income we are looking at right now.
India in 2004
How to read this Data?
The X Axis covers different kinds of works ranging from Sowing, Fisheries in the Rural Setting and Wholesale & Retail Trade and Restaurants and Hotels in Urban Settings, on the Y-axis 1 stands for Rural Female, 2 for Rural Male, 3 for Urban Female and 4 for Urban Male
The same trend of male related columns being on the higher side of income is clear as a day. This is not a recent issue, and it has been persistant. The numbers clearly show that there is a gap and that is not something that can be disputed
Is that what all of this boils down to? People thinking women are incapable?
It is a fact that women are facing a systemic disadvantage where there is a lack of access to education, being undermined and undervalued, being responsible of child care and others in the household, being held accountable for the maintenance of the household. But as time passed, all of these issues seemed to fade with time, except one.
Child birth and care.
The Motherhood Penalty?
This emotion of female being incharge and solely responsible for the child is the wiring in our brain that goes all the way back to when we were primates. It's an instinct.
But. We have evolved. Significantly. Yet out mindset and thoughts have not.
So what is the proof?
The National Bureau of Economic Research from Denmark did a survey and found this data.
Child birth and care for a woman in her economic staanding is equivalent to being hit by a meteorite. It is not something the completely recover from. But on the other hand, women without children seemed to be outearning men
There was an attempt to replicate the Denmark graph in the Indian context but the lack of data was a major setback. While there was a lot of data that explored women's wages across the years, there was not one that showed the marriage and wage correlation. This is explored in the next.
India did have a landslide of positives from the introduction of the LPG Model. After Liberalization there was in increase in the pay gap 24% in 1991 to 32% in 2004 and then 41.94% in 2007 to 28.13% in 2011(Data Colected from the National Sample Survey Office).
India's major working female population are in the unorganized sector where they are in state of vulnerable employment most of the time. The gap is the context of India does not provide accurate information as it is the median. A median where the majority of men are in secure high paying jobs and majoiry of women are in vulnerable low paying jobs. It is not an apple to apple comparison
For reference, Column 1 is 2017, Column 2 is 2018, Column 3 is 2019 and Column 4 is 2020
The reason why the Denmark graphs and survey could be repeated was because the average age of women marrying is before they even start working properly. It is difficult to make a comparison when the legal age to get married is also average age of women getting married.
The unemployment data is a ratio meaning, the 89.75 dot for example in 1998 when the globalization index was 44 means that for every 1 unemployed man there were nearly 90 unemployed women.
This is the one dataset that was perplexing as it shows an increase in the ratio of unemployment where there is an increase in the globalization index. A reverse correlation was expected instead of a direct positive one.
This is by far the most important data visualization as it shows how the females have a lower prticipation rate and it is concentrated in the vulnerable employment section while men have higher participation rate and their data was concentrated in the lesser vulnerable employment section.
This explains why there could be a gender wage gap, and why just two percentages is not enough to illustrate how nuanced the matter is.
In the context of India it is not just child care responsibilities that is being carried by the women but also this unfair disadvantage of women being in the lower paying jobs.
In the context of India and Gender Wage Gap, there is no simple straightforward answer anywhere. It is a cultural, a social, an economic, a politcial and a religious aspects to consider. While the government has passed bills and acts like Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 and Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act of 2017. Chalking every blame of the gender wage gap issue to the motherhood penalty is not fair.
There is an increased level of access to education so skill level of people are also increasing, there is a rise in women's workforce participation (this was noted during the comparitive study). Apart from this, as mentioned before people are advocating the female rights and presurring the policy makers to make more changes and soon. Global exposure thanks to the LPG model has created a huge oppotunities and learning platform
You have heard it before. Yet I will say it again.
The change starts with you
The gender wage gap is intricately linked to the persistent societal expectation that women should be the primary caregivers for children and families. This ingrained belief fuels occupational segregation, limiting women to roles deemed more compatible with caregiving responsibilities and often associated with lower wages. The "motherhood penalty" further compounds the issue, as biases and stereotypes about women's caregiving roles impact workplace decisions, hindering career advancement and perpetuating unequal pay.
Addressing the entrenched idea that women should be sole caregivers and mitigating the associated gender wage gap demands a comprehensive strategy. This includes implementing gender-neutral parental leave policies, fostering flexible work arrangements, ensuring equal opportunities for career advancement, and actively combating workplace biases and stereotypes through education and awareness initiatives. Supportive organizational cultures that prioritize work-life balance, advocate for equal pay, and adhere to transparent pay practices are essential.