Gender Pay Disparities

When Moms First was starting out, a lot of people asked me: Why moms? Why not all parents? This is why: https://lnkd.in/eh3gqwPm ------ "This month, the U.S. Census Bureau published a bombshell finding: The gender wage gap just got wider for the first time in two decades ‒ with women now earning just 83 cents to a man’s dollar. That’s maddening. But, for moms at least, it’s hardly surprising. It’s next to impossible to balance work and family in this country ‒ and as this new data shows, women are taking the hit. As the cost of child care continues to soar, women will just keep falling further behind. On paper, there’s no reason to believe that women should be earning less than men. Girls are more likely to graduate from high school and more likely to hold a bachelor’s degree. More women than men go to law school and medical school, and women’s enrollment in MBA programs has reached record highs. In fact, women do earn nearly as much as men ‒ at least early in their careers. On average, women in their late 20s and early 30s are much closer to parity, taking home at least 90 cents on the dollar compared with the guys sitting next to them at graduation or new hire orientation. Then, when women hit their mid-30s, something changes. The pay gap gets wider. It’s no coincidence that that’s precisely when women are most likely to be raising kids. All of a sudden, women are forced to make very hard choices to manage the demands of work and family. As the founder of Moms First, I’ve heard versions of this story from more women than I can count. Maybe mom drops down to part-time so she can make it to school pickup. Or maybe she switches to a new job that pays less but offers more flexible hours. Or maybe she drops out of the workforce entirely, because the cost of day care would have outpaced her salary anyway. Make no mistake, we are talking about moms here. When women are paid less than men anyway (and, in the case of Black and Hispanic women, way less), deprioritizing their careers can feel like the only logical decision, even if it isn’t what they wanted. This creates a vicious cycle, where pay inequity begets more pay inequity ‒ and women are systematically excluded from economic opportunities. At the same time, while women experience a motherhood penalty, men experience a fatherhood premium ‒ working more hours and reaping bigger rewards than those without kids. As Nobel laureate Claudia Goldin put it, when describing her pioneering research on the pay gap, 'Women often step back, and the men in their lives step forward.' Because here’s the thing: The 'choice' to step back from the workforce isn’t much of a choice at all. If grandma isn’t around to pitch in and child care costs more than rent, what other option do you have?"

You know it. I know it. Return to office isn't neutral. It disproportionately impacts women, especially mothers and caregivers. I was honored to share my thoughts with Taylor Telford for her latest The Washington Post piece exploring how aggressive RTO policies are pushing women's progress backwards. (Link in comments) As I shared in this piece, it is not a "choice" when the options are so limited. Women are once again finding themselves pushed out of the paid workforce. Some key takeaways from the article: 👉 After decades of gradual progress, the gender wage gap is widening again. In 2024, women earned just 80.9 cents for every dollar earned by men, dropping from 84 cents in 2022. 👉 For many women, especially those with caregiving responsibilities, rigid office policies are forcing "choices": accept demotions, take pay cuts, or leave entirely. 👉 Turnover among women at companies with strict in-office mandates is nearly THREE TIMES that of men. 👉 The lack of affordable, accessible childcare continues to widen the pay gap. 👉 Policies like RTO and limiting flexibility are stagnating women who feel forced to step off the ladder towards career growth to manage caregiving. This is exactly why at WRK/360, our mission is to help workplaces ACTUALLY be family and caregiving friendly. Not just in rhetoric, but in policy, culture, and practice. The dynamics the article highlights aren’t hypothetical; they are the exact challenges we work with our clients on daily. ✔️ We help companies design policies (e.g., hybrid, flexible schedules, core hours) that allow for collaboration without penalizing caregivers ✔️We coach leadership on equitable performance criteria so that remote or hybrid contributors are not implicitly devalued ✔️We partner with organizations to embed family-supportive programs that retain talent. HR and leadership teams: 👉 Still considering an RTO mandate? Think about what this really means for women and caregivers. 👉 Already have one in place? Run an audit on your turnover. How has this policy impacted men vs. women? Caregivers vs. non-caregivers? What talent are you losing? Together, we can protect the progress made over decades and stop pushing women and caregivers out of the paid workforce.

When budgets shrink, women pay the price—in time, income, and safety. A survey by ActionAid across six African countries found that austerity measures have pushed women to take on an additional 28 hours of unpaid care work each week. That’s nearly a full extra work week—without pay, without recognition, and without support. This means they have less time for paid work, spend more of their lives in poverty, and are forced to rely on their partners—heightening their vulnerability and risk of violence. This is a clear call to action: economic policies must prioritize care, not cut it. Let’s ensure that gender-responsive budgeting and investment in care infrastructure are central to recovery and development. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/d9B-HhjK #CareEconomy #GenderResponsiveBudgeting #WEEPolicy #WomensRights #UnpaidCareWork #ICRWAfrica #SocialJustice #EconomicJustice #AfricaWomen #FeministEconomics

A new series called "Spatial Insights into the Gender Employment Gap" on The World Bank Data Blog makes the case using practical examples that using spatial data can help paint a more accurate picture of the barriers to women's employment. 👩🏭 In the first post, "Can geospatial data help bridge the gender employment gap? Yes, it can!", Clara Ivanescu and Carolina Mayen Huerta introduce a four-dimensional perspective, arguing that individual, contextual, accessibility, and place characterization factors are key to understanding labor market dynamics for women. In other words, "it's not just about women's skills, but also about where they live". https://lnkd.in/gAK_Rwjg 🕵♀️ In the second post, "Introducing GEEST: An innovative tool that links women to jobs through geographic insights", Clara Ivanescu, Carolina Mayen Huerta, Anna Tabitha Bonfert discuss the Gender Enabling Environments Spatial Tool (GEEST) a GIS tool for assessing gender dynamics in a spatial context. https://lnkd.in/ghNvVbee 👩🔧In the third post, "Improving women's employment opportunities through a spatial lens", Clara Ivanescu and Carolina Mayen Huerta introduce a new online course developed by The World Bank Geospatial Operations Support Team (GOST) and the Institute for Economic Development called "Geographic Considerations in Evaluating Women’s Employment Opportunities" https://lnkd.in/gKwz96Uj

IMF Report: Why a Gender Lens Matters: Unlocking Solutions to Macroeconomic Challenges "As governments design policy packages to address the main macroeconomic questions of our times, putting a gender lens on macroeconomics can amplify reform impact. In this note, IMF staff’s analysis has called for attention to strengthening legal rights, gendered aspects of fiscal policy, and enhancing women’s work–life choices, including through structural reforms. Capacity development to assist member countries in their reform efforts has grown and, so far, has centered on integrating gender into public financial management systems through gender budgeting."

Check out our new research paper: Evaluation of the effect of fiscal policies on gender income gap in Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. In this document, we go beyond the traditional approach, usually focused on wages, and address broader economic factors to achieve gender equity, such as taxes, pensions, and social assistance, as well as independent work and non-labor sources of income. For example, in Guatemala, Panama, and the Dominican Republic, social programs reduce gender income gaps at lower income levels. Read the full study: https://bit.ly/4aFQ4E7 Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo | Maria Cecilia Deza | Tatiana Andrea Gélvez Rubio | @Diana Gutiérrez Preciado | @Xavier Jara | David Rodríguez Guerrero, PhD | Francisco Javier Urra | Margarita Libby | Ignez Tristao | Katharina Falkner-Olmedo | Marta Ruiz Arranz | María José Jarquín | Rocio Medina-Bolivar

I’m delighted to share my latest news article: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐚𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐞 (Dawn Prism, 29 Aug 2025). In Lahore, women’s everyday lives are shaped not just by household income but by **where they live** on the city map, as well as their social identity. Our research at the University of Cambridge, together with the Lahore University of Management Sciences shows how: 🔌 Uneven energy access across neighbourhoods deepens gender inequities. 🏘️ Living on the “peripheries” means unreliable gas, patchy electricity, and limited digital access. 👩🦱 Women’s mobility, work opportunities, and even autonomy over household appliances are tied to social identity, employment, and location. 🌆 Proximity to affluent cores like DHA opens some opportunities — but can also reinforce power asymmetries. The findings highlight why energy must be understood not just as a technical issue, but as deeply #social, #spatial, and #gendered. 📍 To move towards a fairer and more sustainable energy future, we must recognise and address these inequities within our cities. Read the full article here 👉: https://lnkd.in/evPt8etc I’m super grateful to Energy IRC Cambridge for funding this study, to Lucy Cavendish College for the three-year fellowship that allowed me to lead this work, and to my co-researchers, Hadia Majid, Rabia Saeed, Alaiba Faheem and Charlotte Lemanski. This article is based on an in-depth research paper published in IJURR. You can check out this open-access paper here: https://lnkd.in/eW_99upt #GenderedEnergy #EnergyJustice #SpatialJustice #UrbanInequality #SDG5 #SDG7 #PeripheralUrbanisation

🔍 New Research! How do cultural traditions shape women’s labor opportunities? Cecilia D'Agostini’ and Luca Tiberti analyze data from Malawi and Indonesia to assess the impact of matrilocality, a tradition where husbands join wives’ families after marriage, on women’s employment. Key findings: ➡️ Matrilocality increases women’s likelihood of wage and formal employment ➡️ Overall employment rates for women are lower in these contexts ➡️ Strengthened household bargaining power and reduced tolerance for gender-based violence are possible mechanisms 📖 Read more 👉  : https://lnkd.in/e33Jsnnw #Gender #Labour

👀 Did you know: Rural women employment ratio in India exceeds urban by 1.8X 🚀 I analyzed and plotted the data from 2020 to test the validity of the 'income effect' theory (more about this further down). 1. ~47% of working-age women in rural areas are employed compared to just 26% in urban areas. 2. Rural women employment ratio surged from a lowly 27% in Y22 to 41% in Y23 and continues to grow much faster than in urban areas. 3. India's female employment rate stands at just 36% of working-age women. The number is 61% in China. 4. Rural incomes are growing faster YoY than urban incomes. While both rural and urban incomes have shown consistent growth due to government support (such as MGNREGA) and economic recovery, the employment ratio for rural women has increased significantly, contrasting with a modest rise for urban women. Why could this be? The income effect theory says that higher earnings lessen the financial need for dual income households. Rural women are joining the workforce out of financial need, even as household incomes rise. This challenges the income effect theory that suggests women tend to leave the workforce as family incomes increase. Urban women's workforce participation follows a more traditional pattern: as household incomes rise, particularly through higher male wages, women are less likely to seek employment. The persistent gender pay gap makes seeking employment less financially rewarding for urban women, leading many to focus on household responsibilities instead. So, what is the economic value lost due to the low women working population ratio in India? The economic value of unpaid work done by women (domestic work, caregiving etc…) is a leading indicator to understand this gap. That number is around $277 billion or 8.2% of India's GDP (SBI Research) This makes a case for nuanced policy approaches: rural policies should focus on sustained income support, while urban policies should aim to create meaningful opportunities that encourage women’s workforce engagement. Data sources: MoSPI, Economic Survey (various years), SBI research

I'm troubled by this recent Ms. Magazine report on widening pay gaps for women, especially women of color. This regression and recent policy shifts create a perfect storm that threatens to undo decades of progress. Key findings that demand our attention: - Women now earn just 75 cents for every dollar men make - The wage gap isn't projected to close until 2068 – 43 years later than previous estimates - Intersectional disparities have deepened, with Latinas earning 51¢ and Black women 64¢ per white male dollar This backslide isn't about individual choices. It's rooted in systemic issues now at risk of worsening: 1. Occupational Segregation: - Women hold 77% of education/healthcare roles but earn 24% less than men in these fields 2. Caregiving Penalties: - Only 21% of U.S. workers have access to paid family leave - Childcare costs consume 28% of median household income 3. Negotiation Disparities: - Women asking for raises face 30% higher likelihood of being labeled "difficult." - Transparent salary ranges reduce gender gaps by 45%, yet 67% of companies use opaque systems Recent policy shifts pose additional challenges: The systemic dismantling of DEI infrastructure creates structural barriers to equitable hiring/promotions by: - Eliminating accountability measures: Federal contractors are no longer required to track/address pay disparities - Rescinding anti-bias tools: Removal of salary history bans, which reduced gender gaps by 45% - Defunding compliance staff: Federal DEI offices ordered to shut down, decimating enforcement capacity At WOC Retail Alliance®, we're intensifying our efforts despite these headwinds. We need more partners and urgent action: - State/local policies to preserve pay transparency and anti-bias training and enforcement - Corporate commitments to equitable and inclusive practices to build diverse teams and leadership pipelines despite federal hostility - Advocacy for childcare subsidies and paid leave laws - Continued push for the Equal Rights Amendment ratification It's time for bold, collective action. Our economy, our communities, and our future depend on it. #equalpay #access #closegaps #womenmatter #inclusionandequitymatter How is your organization navigating these challenges? Let's share strategies and drive change together in this critical moment. https://lnkd.in/gVRcXi6x