Women and Work

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Women and Work
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Announcements

• Amendment to Syllabus Thursday April 7- entire
  class is group meetings (I will not be here- MPSA
  in Chicago).
• For this reason, readings for April 7 will be
  discussed Mar. 29, and Mar 29 readings will be
  discussed Mar. 31.
• Essay 2 due Thursday

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What counts as work?

• Housework?
• Maid Work?
• Sex Work?
• Home-based production?
• Today we will focus on work for pay.

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Trends in Womens Work for Pay

• Increasing of Women in the Labor Force
• What does it mean to be in labor force?
• LF participation rate varies across countries
• Leveling off in US- Women are about half of all
  workers
• Majority of mothers of children under 1 are
  working
• Counts do not always include womens work (4.1)
• Agriculture, Home-based production, family
  businesses, etc.
• Feminization of Labor/Global Assembly Line
• Global Production
• EPZs Maquilas Young women- 80-90 of workers
  in lightweight assembly Unmarried 16-25

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Women and Work for Pay in the US

• Anti-Discrimination Policies
• Equal Pay Act 1963 (Kennedy)-1972 (prof)
• Amended Fair Labor Standards Act(1938)
• Exceptions merit production seniority/training
  bases other than sex
• Effective under DOL- transferred to EEOC, 79
• 20 million per year to less than 2 million/year
• Civil Rights Act 1964 (Kennedy) BFOQ
• Affirmative Action 1965/1967 (Johnson)
• Women included in 67
• Does this mean we have equality?

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Trends in Wages of Women and Men by Education
Level

• Mens wages stagnant
• Womens wages increase slightly
• Wage gaps persist at all levels
• In virtually all Occupations

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Causes of Wage Inequality

• Occupational Segregation Education
• Job Evaluation Systems are sex-biased
• Wage gaps persist even for full time workers
• Discrimination, Sexual Harassment
• Access to Child Care especially for young
  children Cost of Child Care
• Family responsibilities

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Wage Gaps (2003)

• All FT Wage and Salary (16) 79.5
• Whites 79.4
• Black/African American 88.4
• Asian77.
• Hispanic /Latino 88.3
• Represented by a Union 86.1
• Not Represented by a Union 78.5
• Less than a HS Degree 78.5
• Bachelors Degree or Higher 73.6

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Wage Gaps by Occupation

• CEOs 71.6
• Food service managers 82.7
• Computer Programmers 87.3
• Elementary School Teachers 89.8
• Postsecondary 79
• Physicians and surgeons 59
• Nurses 88
• Sewing Machine Operators 83.9