Eliminating the pay gap brings true appreciation of DEIJ
Celebrating diversity, equity, inclusion and justice is admirable, but it does not improve people’s lives if effective measures and clear policies do not back it. Unfortunately, the gender pay gap, for several reasons, manifests such wrongheaded practice. For example, some argue that the persisting gender pay gap is due in large measure to the types of jobs women take — which come with less pay — or many younger mothers work fewer hours or take time out of the labor force to help their families and raise children.
Accepting such inexplicable economic reasoning brings feminization of poverty and causes young children in families headed by single women to suffer. We should ask ourselves why women in the 21st century bear the burden of taking care of their children alone. Why don’t we have universal, high-quality early childhood education? Why don’t couples have sufficient family leave to take care of their families in times of need? The reality is that in most low-income families, neither of the couples can afford to take care of their children. Parental leaves are limited and only high-paid workers — often with high educational attainments — receive such options to attract them to those jobs in competition with other employers. In many advanced economies, these provisions are considered investments to support families and create better intergenerational social mobility and a better future for all.
For decades research has shown that Americans have suffered from a culturally gender-biased educational choice and entry to job markets. Men and women can take any job, and there is no limitation. The limitation can only be found in our thinking and adhering to a tradition that has no place in modern societies. Research also indicates that educating children at a younger age and having mentors can help to change this practice.
The pay gap is not only based on gender, but also includes clear racial and ethnic discrimination. According to 2022 by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, overall, women earned about $0.82 for every dollar men earned; Hispanic or Latina women earned about $0.58, and Black women earned about $0.63 for every dollar white men earned. One can imagine the contribution of Hispanics or Black Americans to the U.S. GDP without racial discrimination in pay scale. Citi GPS report in 2020 estimated $16 trillion in lost GDP in the last 20 years before its study due to racial inequality in the United States.
“What this report underscores is that this tariff is levied on us all, and particularly in the U.S., that cost has a real and tangible impact on our country’s economic output,” said Raymond J. McGuire, vice chairman of Citigroup and chairman of Banking, Capital Markets and Advisory at Citi.
Cutting pay for other reasons might impact the most vulnerable, and it has another name: wage theft. According to a 2017 study by the Economic Policy Institute, wage theft costs U.S. workers as much as $50 billion annually. This amount is higher than all robberies, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts combined. The difference is that the thieves are free and hardly pursued by the law. According to this study, wage theft also is more likely to affect low-wage workers, immigrant workers and workers with less education and fewer resources. After all, robbing is easier when there is little possibility of protection.
This brings us alarming information that raises concerns about California and our county. According to California Immigrant Data Portal by the University of Southern California’s Equity Research Institute (ERI) in Ventura County, the median wage in 2019 was $17 for immigrant workers compared with $27 for U.S.-born workers, a gap of 37%. Of course, one can argue about differences in educational attainment or pay level where many immigrant workers are employed. However, one cannot eliminate the likelihood of wage theft among the reasons. Although the prevailing laws provide every possibility for dispute, it is unlikely to see any decisive action from defenseless immigrants to stand for their rights.
A credible and meaningful plan for supporting DEIJ should bring a clear agenda for how the wage gap is effectively reduced within each organization in every community. Its success or failure should be measured continually and reported publicly. Successes should be recognized as best practices, and failure should be looked into and corrected.
Jamshid Damooei, Ph.D., is the executive director of the Center for Economics of Social Issues and director of the undergraduate economics program at California Lutheran University.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Eliminating the pay gap brings true appreciation of DEIJ
