November 5 was 'equal pay day' again. Equal pay, I hear you thinking? That sounds fantastic! But unfortunately:Equal Pay Day is anything but a positive day for women. If you compare our lonn, women from that day on, compared to men, work for free for the rest of the year. That sounds a lot less rosy, doesn't it? It is sad but true:when women compare their wages with that of men who do the same work, the result is still very skewed. Why is there still a gender pay gap? Isn't it about time we stand up for ourselves and do something about it?
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Tom Jones already managed to deliver it beautifully:this is a man's world. In relative terms, we women may not even be allowed to complain. 100 years ago we weren't even allowed to work or vote. We didn't get much further than raising children. A lot has changed since then, though. But if we compare our wages with that of our men, the situation is slightly less emancipated than you might think.
The pay gap:I get goosebumps spontaneously just hearing the word. That does not mean top salaries or big bonuses. But simply:the wages you get for the work you do. And if we compare our wages with that of men, there is only one result. Men still earn much more than women. For the exact same job. This makes being financially independent no easier.
Let's take a look at the sad numbers. Men still earn 15.5% more than women on average. That saves no less than 3 tons in a human life! Unbelievable, isn't it?
Equal Pay Day, which falls on November 5, makes that painfully clear. Women earn 15.5% less than men, so they work an equally large percentage of days for nothing. Did you know that you did volunteer work? Almost 2 months a year in fact! If you compare your wages with that of your male colleague, you will not actually be paid anything from now on.
When we compare our wages with that of men, an emancipated picture still does not emerge today. In fact, the pay gap is still huge. This does not give us the best score within the EU. In almost two thirds of all European countries, the pay gap is lower than in our country. But how come? Do we owe that to ourselves? Or is there more to it?
There is a lot of confusion about unequal salaries. Don't women just owe that to themselves? That sounds like a typically men's idea, but women themselves too often believe in myths surrounding the pay gap. Below you can read a few.
Are you a good negotiator? It is often thought that this is not exactly feminine. That is not entirely true. What has been shown is that negotiating with women is simply less rewarded. If you do not negotiate, you can often whistle for a higher salary anyway. But if you do, you will often not be thanked. While negotiating is seen as ambitious by men, women are often considered 'cold' by it. Read more tips for your salary negotiation here.
As a woman, you work on average fewer hours in your entire life than a man. Why? This has to do with the idea that women should still care, and men should still work. Of course we get maternity leave. But even once the children have arrived, we often continue to work part-time. Not just because we have to:most of us also want to be able to take care of our children at home. Conclusion:we have less 'work experience' than men, and therefore earn less. If we compare our wages with that of a man, this explains it all. Or not?
When you include career breaks and part-time work, you're left with a pay gap of 6%. So much less! But it remains a difference of 6%, which probably stems from discrimination. And moreover… because part of the pay gap can be explained, that does not mean that it is also justified. Women do 1.5 times more unpaid work than men. And that brings us to the next myth.
Read the sentence above again:on average, women do 1.5 times more unpaid work than men. Think of housework, family care, informal care or voluntary work, for example. We may do the latter voluntarily:that does not always apply to the rest. Women want to take care of others, but often have little choice. And because of that, we rarely put ourselves, or our career, first.
Enough myths:time to return to harsh reality. If we compare our wages with that of men, this still produces a bleak picture. But what are we going to do about that? Government and business must wake up first. But that also applies to us! Awareness of the pay gap is the first step. But then something else has to be done. What can we actually do ourselves to reduce the pay gap between men and women?
WOMEN Inc. has launched a campaign to tackle the pay gap. On their website you can first see how much salary you are missing out on in your working life. You can also read tips on how to negotiate better. And just as important:advice for situations in which negotiation does not help.
Also very important:spread to word. Talk about the pay gap with your female, but especially with your male colleagues. They usually find it just as unjust. The only problem is that the corporate culture in the Netherlands around rewards for men and women is quite fixed. We are not going to change it alone. Let us, women, especially stand our ground together!
