Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin - WTF is the Wage Gap (International Women's Day Edition)

Episode Date: March 8, 2022

Happy International Women’s Day! To celebrate, Nicole unpacks the origins of the wage gap and explains how all of us, regardless of gender, can and should make a difference. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Well, it doesn't. Charge for wasting our time. I will take a check. Like an old school check. You recognize her from anchoring on CNN, CNBC, and Bloomberg. The only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. Nicole Lappin. Happy International Women's Day!

The day where we celebrate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. Should we be celebrating these achievements every day? Hell yes! But I still appreciate the gesture of this day. It is important to carve out space and time to recognize the half of the population that has historically received less recognition. And I do see the value in celebrating achievements. I really do. There are so many badass women out there who are changemakers, and we should honor them today and every day. But I do think International Women's Day needs

a second purpose. Once we've sufficiently celebrated what's been accomplished by women, we should look to see what still needs to be accomplished for women. And when I think about the work we still need to do to soldier on toward gender equality, my first thought is closing the wage gap. This is a no brainer. And listen, yes, there are more gaps between men and women than just financial. There's a power gap. There's a representation gap. There's an opportunity gap. But I firmly believe that closing the gender wage gap between men and women will lead to women receiving more power, more representation, and more opportunity. How would that work? Well, I'm so glad you asked. To explain why closing the gender wage gap is so meaningful and to get us all inspired to do more for women on this holiday, I'm resharing an episode I did called WTF is the wage gap. Enjoy.

The financial world can be a very cutthroat place. That is not breaking news. Savvy business people are referred to as sharks. And on Wall Street, you hear phrases like, it's a dog-eat-dog world. I'm sure you've heard someone say, it's just business after doing something totally savage, almost as if doing something fucked up in the name of making money is A-OK in the crazy financial animal kingdom. That is one way of looking at the financial world. It's a zero-sum game. And for every winner, there needs to be a loser. However, that's not necessarily how the economy works. In a healthy economy, people have money to spend. In other words, people are making enough money so that they can support businesses and therefore employees and business owners. And there is a healthy financial ecosystem with cash flow. So issues of fair pay, like raising the federal minimum wage, which we covered on episode 62, are issues we should all care about

because we do better when we all do better. You know, I don't like cliches, but I do like metaphors. And for the national economy, I love the metaphor, rising tides lift all boats. Another fair pay issue we should all care about is the difference in pay between men and women who work the same jobs. That's what we're going to be talking about today. And I'm going to be telling you why this issue is important and how we can all help. And men who think they can just totally check out of this episode. Nuh-uh, boys. This one is for you, too. Plus, men who are feminists are so sexy. That's not just science. That is my expert opinion. So do all of you money rehabbing boys pay very close attention? Throughout the entire history of this country, I am talking every chapter in the textbook, men have always earned more than women for doing the exact same work.

The difference in pay known as the wage gap has been shrinking in modern times, but it still exists. Trust me. And for working women today, no matter how much better off we are than women that came before us, any difference in pay is too wide of a gap. difference in pay is too wide of a gap. According to a study by the Pew Research Center in 2020, women made 16% less than men working the same position. When talking about the wage gap, people sometimes use language like women make 84 cents on the dollar when compared to men. This phrasing is vivid and powerful, but I think it sometimes confuses people because it sounds like there's some sort of salary deflation that's specific to women, and that's not how it works. The way to think about

the wage gap is if you look at a man and a woman that have the same qualifications, the same degrees, the same number of years of experience, and the same job title, the woman on average makes only 84% of what the man earns. The Pew Research Center points out that this gap means a woman would need to work 42 more days than a man to make what he makes in a year. This gap is wider for women of color. I do want to note here that the movement for fair pay is not about having men earn less. Don't worry, fellas, not trying to take your money here. This movement is all about women earning the same wage as their male counterparts, basically just getting what they deserve. That's not so controversial, right? The solution on a

company-wide level would involve assigning salary based on unbiased factors like performance and experience. If you work hard, no matter your sex or gender, this evaluation system would work for you. The wage gap is part of a greater problem of women being viewed as, and I quote here, the weaker sex. There is a long history of women only securing opportunities where there's a vacancy left by a man. And this has happened in many different scenarios across many different industries. For example, when American men left the country to fight in World War II, there was a huge void in the labor industry. So women stepped in and stepped up.

Before the war, women only made up 1% of the aircraft industry. During the war, women made up 65% of the aircraft industry. This growth happened across many different sectors as women filled the labor force. And in a very different, more recent example, New York swore in its first woman governor after Governor Cuomo resigned over sexual harassment allegations. But back to World War II, women who were keeping the trains running on time, literally, were making roughly half the salary of their male co-workers. On behalf of our girl, Rosie the Riveter, who I was for Halloween one year, fun fact, we should all be pissed. And there was a general pissed offness in the social consciousness at the time. So much so that later in 1963, the Equal Pay Act was passed, signing into law commanding that there should be no disparity in pay based on gender or sex. However, you can't just put social change into law. You need to change systems or nothing will change. And that's pretty much exactly what we've been seeing with the Equal Pay Act. In 1970, years after the legislation passed, women still made 40 percent less than what men were earning.

The wage gap, of course, became a national conversation when the U.S. women's soccer team filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation in 2016. According to the suit, players on the women's team earn 11% less than the players on the men's team, and men make almost double in bonuses for World Cup appearances. That lawsuit was dismissed, but there is an appeal in progress, and the fight is ongoing. To quote the women's soccer team mantra, LFG. Let's fucking go. The wage gap isn't entirely caused by women getting relatively low starting salary offers. Another issue that feeds into the wage gap is that women don't raise their hands for pay increases or bonuses as often as men do.

And that's perfectly understandable, right? Women have had to fight for that seat at the table. And instead of celebrating our place, we worry that it's going to be taken away. That leaves women with a lot of mental gymnastics to navigate in the workplace. Women have to worry about being likable, not threatening their co-workers' egos, not being too aggressive. I mean, I get it. Obviously, I've been there. But this is how we as women can spark change from the inside out. I have some homework for all of you money rehabbers out there, the men and the

women. Rather than finding a way for women to add 42 more days in a calendar year in order to earn the same salary as men, let's explore some simpler options. Ladies, take a look at the average salary for your position on a site like payscale.com or salary.com and make sure you're earning at the high end of the salary range for your position in your geographic area. If you're earning the average salary for your position, that's not good enough. Why? Well, the average salary for your position will probably be the calculated midpoint between the salary ceiling, typically earned by the men, and the salary floor, typically earned by the women. We deserve what the men get, nothing less. So shoot for the ceiling and the salary floor typically earned by the women. We deserve what the men get,

nothing less. So shoot for the ceiling of your salary range and bust the glass ceiling along the way. If you're making less than you deserve, listen to episode 56 of Money Rehab on negotiating a raise. Boys, here is your homework. Tell your female co-workers what you're making. Yep, work. Tell your female co-workers what you're making. Yep, share your salary. Say it out loud. I know it can feel uncomfortable. I know you may feel guilty or nervous about being the bad guy, but no, this makes you an ally, a good guy. And in this story, the good guy wins. Or for some comic relief, here's another idea from writer and overall badass media extraordinaire Alexis Oni Esselay. So I've done a lot of thinking and I really, truly believe that the only way to solve the wage gap is for those of us who identify as women to charge those of us who identify as men for wasting our time. It happens every day. Every woman you know is having her time wasted. If it's like talking to a guy, if it's laughing at a joke that you

think isn't funny, but like a pity laugh, time wasted. I just really think that we could like itemize our time in the same way that you would for a job. And when your time is wasted, Venmo, Zelle, Cash App, I will take a check, like an old school check. I just really think that's the best way to close the wage gap and I will not be taking any counters. If those were the rules, I would be a much richer bitch. That's for sure. For today's tip, you can take straight to the bank. Ladies, men, everyone, start talking openly about how much money you're making. I know it can feel icky and weird, and you may feel jealous of someone making more than you and guilty over someone making less than you, but you can't solve a problem if it's been made invisible.

You'll be surprised how much your co-workers appreciate you going first on bringing this issue to light. Nikki Etor, and Will Pearson. Our mascots are Penny and Mimsy. Huge thanks to OG Money Rehab team, Michelle Lanz for her development work, Catherine Law for her production and writing magic, and Brandon Dickert for his editing, engineering, and sound design. And as always, thanks to you for finally investing in yourself so that you can get it together and get it all.