Despite Massachusetts’ historic leadership on pay equity — in 1945 it became the first state to require equal pay for comparable work — the gap between men’s and women’s salaries here is now among the biggest in the country.
Women earned 77 percent of what men took home in median full-time pay, placing Massachusetts 37th among states and the District of Columbia, according to 2011 US Census Bureau data analyzed by the American Association of University Women.
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let's sign a few more equal pay acts, that should do the trick.
Misogyny runs deep in Massachusetts. It's part of its cultural baggage.
Misogyny is woven into the American culture.
Pay is not a big deal - how about something much more important where equity is nonexistent when men are continually deprived of their children in child custody cases. Or legislation to require women to serve in combat no exceptions - remember its about equity.
In a professional setting, not every employee is worth the same amount. Is society trying to do away with that? If I thought I would get the same salary regardless of how good a job I did, I might not work so hard. Similarly not every employee is paid what they are worth. Is a company required to pay its employees more than they have to? Often the salary problem is one of information. When hiring someone new, an employer doesn't know how good you are so they are biased by how much you currently make and what is the going rate. Also employees don't often know how much everyone else is making, which allows employers to pay people vastly different rates. Also women are more likely to have children which costs employers of women more money when they have a leave of absence. Women should get that, but it costs employers so there's a disencentive to hiring women because of that. If you are in a field where you work for a company for only a few years, a maternity leave would greatly effect what you got for your money. To the extent that women are getting paid less is because they are less good at negotiating: we are talking about cultural changes here: women need to get better at negotiating and companies need to put less emphasis on it. Will we change the system to accomodate men for the areas they are less competent in? If women are truly underpaid, why aren't companies snatching up these overqualified women and paying them just above the heavily discounted rate but still below the overpriced male one? Sexism? I truly feel (with perhaps a few exceptions) that the business world's only bias is toward more and more money. In my view, maternity benefits should be publicly financed (insurance?), removing that disincentive. Private accrediting negotiating services should be available and used more by the public. But (aside from minimum wage) the government should not be involved in regulating my paycheck.
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How many women actually have jobs in MA?
Yep - that must be Gov. Romney's fault . . . or Senator Brown's fault.
It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the Democratic house majority!!!!! Right?
It's time we make pay for jobs more transparent. Companies don't include the budgeted salary for jobs when advertising them but I need to supply my credit history, my salary history, and state my desired salary. It all seems quite backwards to me. Companies spend money by hiring compensation specialists to figure out what the market value of the jobs are. Why is it then hidden away? Let's make hiring as transparent as buying a house. This will help women and men get paid appropriately. Let's start by including the minimum salary for the job or the salary range when its advertised. If you agree, check out this petition http://bit.ly/salinclusion