Speak Lab
This map is based primarily upon these couple sources originally provided. The Freakanomics podcast was especially helpful, and this initial round of quick research dispelled a lot of my own previous ideas about the gender pay gap. Before research, I knew the basics: women earn about 79 cents to for every dollar a man makes, for women of color this disparity was even bigger.
There has been legislative action, but it seems like its effectiveness isn’t as wide reaching as one would hope. The Lily Ledbetter Act is concerned with litigation and affects the statue of limitations. Executive Order 13665 only applies to federal contractors.
Much of the problem seems to point towards children. Childrearing responsibilities generally fall on the woman in heterosexual relationships. They may choose to leave their job or require more flexibility in hours. Even those without children can be penalized–employers may assume that a female employee of childbearing age will eventually have kids and consider that a liability.
I can understand why employers do what they do; employees leaving or not being able to spend as much time at work does affect the company’s efficiency. Employees taking time off to care for their family or children disrupts the company’s rhythm. Employees won’t be as efficient and be creating as much profit for the company, which begs the questions: what is value?
Similarly, in terms of flexibility, I wonder how the gig economy could potentially benefit moms.
Perhaps the best spaces to intervene are the ones where there are no words to accurately describe the space itself.
