Closing the gender gap in pay is a men’s issue too

by Rob Howard
Political Columnist

One of the big issues in this year’s election – in fact, in every election, every legislature, and every Congress – is getting women equal pay for equal work. And despite the fact that there are more women in the US than there are men, and that there are 30 million more women voters than men, as a nation we are still stuck at women making 80 cents for every dollar men earn.

I’m not sure what men think about their mothers, wives and daughters making less than men doing the same work. But here’s what they should be thinking: If the women in your life are making less than men doing the same work, it affects you too.

In my own experience growing up, I was mostly reliant on women helping me out. My mother was a single mom supporting two boys on her earnings and the ridiculously low child support my father usually paid.

Her older sister – my favorite aunt – paid my out of state tuition for the last three years I was in college. She was an assistant professor, and before she retired was part of a class action lawsuit by women to gain pay equity. They won the case, and her settlement – although nice – did not come close to compensating her for all those years she was paid less than her male colleagues.

I relied on these women for help for the first 23 years of my life. And while my life wasn’t terrible, it could have been a lot better. We didn’t have a car until I was 10. We never had a washer and dryer – I got dropped off at the laundromat to do the family laundry. The only vacations we had were when my grandmother and grandfather were going somewhere, and we were brought along.

These women in my life had it tougher because they were making less money. My aunt never owned her own home. She lived in apartments her entire adult life. Neither my mother nor my aunt had any significant assets when they died.

So guys, when you hear about the need for women to have equal pay for equal work we aren’t talking just about women. We are talking about you.

Mothers are the sole or primary provider in 40 percent of households with children. The national median income for all families with children is $57,100. For families led by a single woman, the median income is $23,000.

I challenge any of you to try to get by on $23,000 – with or without children. And I’d bet it’s very, very hard for children from these families to go to college. Instead, they face a life of lower wages, so poverty or near poverty feeds on itself.

According to a White House fact sheet, “When America first put the Equal Pay Act on the books in 1963, women earned 59 cents for every dollar paid to men. Today, almost 50 years after the Equal Pay Act became law, women are paid an average of 77 cents for every dollar paid to men. The gender wage gap has narrowed, but it has not disappeared and has been virtually flat over the past decade.”

As you might expect, in the South Central region, the picture is even more bleak than it is if you look only at the national average. Arkansas and Texas do the best in reaching the national figure. Women in those states are at 79 percent of male income.

Missouri stands at 78 percent, Kansas at 77. Oklahoma brings up the bottom at 73 percent. And that’s only part of the picture. In all five of our states, male and female incomes are lower than the national average.

We need both national and state legislation to eliminate the gender pay gap once and for all. It’s not just a women’s issue. The gender pay gap affects men and boys just as much as it affects women and girls. So come on guys – get on board and demand equal pay for equal work for the women in your life. You’d be doing yourself a favor too.

Copyright 2016 The Gayly – November 11, 2016 @ 12:50 p.m.