Michigan among worst in equal pay for women Michigan women who work full-time make 67 cents for every dollar earned by men

By Brad Heath / The Detroit News

Women in Michigan bring home paychecks far leaner than men’s, a statewide income gap that is among the deepest and most stubborn in the nation. While every state made progress in closing the so-called “gender gap” during the past decade, Michigan’s strides were among the slowest. Michigan women who work full time make 67 cents for every dollar earned by men, a figure that budged less than 5 cents in the 1990s, an analysis of Robin Buckson / The Detroit News U.S. Census Bureau numbers shows. Annette Wilson works for GM in an industry where collective bargaining Nationwide, women who worked full deals have effectively evened the pay. time in 1999 earned 73 cents for each dollar men earned. signments and others who have of every six households nationwide. But there is little agreement about dodged those obstacles and climbed What it found suggests the gap why Metro Detroit and the rest of the to the top. between men and women’s pay- state lag so far behind the nation. To ”Things are better for women than checks is rooted at least in part in the some, it’s proof that the state’s work- they used to be, but the progress has careers they choose and the educa- places remain rife with discrimina- been slow,” said Fernandez, presi- tion they receive. Men still dominate tion, forcing women into low-paying dent of the Detroit’s Women’s Eco- high-paying manufacturing, finance jobs. To others, it’s a reflection of a nomic Club. “A lot of businesses are and management jobs; women are state economy skewed toward high- still reluctant to give women the more likely to work as secretaries, paying industries that tend to be more demanding opportunities you teachers or in health care. Mean- dominated by men. need to get ahead.” while, men are still more likely than Ina Fernandez cracked her share The gender pay gap findings were women to have a college degree — of glass ceilings in the financial drawn from the Census Bureau’s something economists say is closely world before landing a job as a port- long-form survey of Americans in tied to income — though women are folio manager at Munder Capital 2000, the results of which offer the catching up. Management in Birmingham. But most detailed economic and demo- But when it comes to why Michi- along the way, she has seen women graphic snapshot in a decade. The gan ranks so low, experts disagree. who were passed over for plum as- questionnaire was sent to roughly one There’s been little research done to find out why women’s economic They’d all be talking to my husband, progress is slower in some places and I’d have to correct them,” she than others. said. ”People choose to go into differ- Now her husband works for her, ent occupations, but they don’t as one of the 15 members of her cake- choose not to have the same pay,” making staff. said Meg Lewis-Sidime, a spokes- ”I’m never going to be rich this woman for 9to5, National Associa- way, but I’m happy,” she said. “That’s tion of Working Women, which has what’s important.” lobbied for tougher equal-pay laws. Family demands also play a big “The problem is there’s still really role. Max Ortiz / The Detroit News nothing that requires equal wages.” ”Most women have children. And Ina Fernandez cracked her share of Whatever the reason, the results most women who have children glass ceilings in the financial world are stark. Michigan is the third worst aren’t going to work 24 hours a day,” before landing her current job. in the nation when it comes to men said Joan Williams, executive direc- Where to get help and women bringing home equal tor of the Program on Gender, Work paychecks. Only in Wyoming and and Family at American University’s There are a number of Web sites Louisiana are those earnings dispari- law school in Washington. “Most designed for women seeking career ties more lopsided. In some parts of mothers don’t work such long hours advice. They include: southeast Michigan, including as the traditional executive schedule * http://www.operationable.org/ * http://www.career-intelligence.com/ Lapeer, Livingston and Monroe during the key career-building years. * www.womenfuture.com/ counties, women earn 59 cents on the But a lot of professional jobs have * www.advancingwomen.com/ dollar, a gap equal to the one that first defined the ideal worker as someone * http://www.womanowned.com/ sparked the nation’s equal-pay move- who does work that much, so that ment four decades ago. definition systematically excludes most women.” Family demands are a factor Williams and others say those fac- tors weigh heavily in what have be- The roots of the gender gap in pay come women’s careers. They see are wide and strong. women being pushed into so-called Researchers who have studied it “pink collar” work and other careers can tick off hundreds of cases in that tend to have more stable hours which women have been denied pro- and more time off for raising fami- motions, turned down for raises or lies but don’t come with the finan- even been drummed out of the work- cial rewards of other occupations. place altogether. But they say the in- ”There’s a lot of sex segregation come disparity between men and in the workplace — and that doesn’t women has just as much to do with just reflect people’s career choices,” the jobs we choose and how we raise Williams said. our families. Christine Stolba, a senior fellow Mary Denning took her pay cut by at the Independent Women’s Forum choice. She quit her job as a man- in Washington doesn’t see anything ager at the Farmer Jack supermarket so problematic. People pick the ca- chain to open a cake shop in reers that suit their lives, she said, and Westland a decade ago. That meant those choices reflect the fact that Robin Buckson / The Detroit News women typically play a bigger role less money in her pocket, but it also Mary Denning took her pay cut by means she is her own boss in a busi- in raising kids. choice. She quit her job as a man- ness she loves. ”Until men decide they want to ager at the Farmer Jack supermar- ”When I started out, nobody spend as much time with the kids as ket chain to open a cake shop in thought I was the one in charge. women do, you’re not going to see Westland. the wage gap close,” she said. “It’s Michigan’s economy is still not going to happen.” heavily dependent on manufacturing. Still, there are steps that have Those jobs offer good wages and helped. Civil service pay scales and their heavy unionization means the labor unions’ collective bargaining pay scales stay fairly equal for men deals have effectively evened the pay and women. But more than three- scales in some fields. quarters of the state’s manufacturing Some studies suggest that states jobs belong to men. with a higher concentration of union And there’s no consensus on what jobs tend to have narrower pay gaps. to do about the disparity. While Michigan is highly unionized, Some groups are lobbying Con- most of the traditional manufactur- gress to toughen anti-discrimination ing jobs belong to men. laws. Others want to beef up the 1963 Sharon Byrd is a junior computer Equal Pay Act that ordered employ- programmer for the City of Detroit. ers to provide equal paychecks for She left General Motors Corp. to equal work. work for the city because she wanted ”What the wage gap really mea- a job that guaranteed a little more sures is that opportunities for men stability, and government work and women still aren’t equal,” said seemed to offer her more opportuni- Vicky Lowell, a study director at the ties to get ahead. Institute for Women’s Policy Re- ”I wanted something permanent,” search. “That’s the problem that has said Byrd, who lives on Detroit’s east to be fixed.” side. Stolba, of the Independent Women’s Forum in Washington, No consensus on solution doesn’t see a need for dramatic solu- tions. “When you look at all the fac- The gap in pay is almost universal. tors involved, you realize discrimi- Women out-earn men in only 15 of nation isn’t necessarily to blame. If the nation’s more than 3,100 coun- there’s a problem to solve, it’s prob- ties. ably to make sure we’re enforcing But no one has been able to ex- existing laws.” plain why it runs much deeper in ”But we’ll never close the gap all some states than in others. In the Dis- the way,” she said. trict of Columbia and Hawaii, Ruth Malachowski chalks her women earn nearly as much as men. success up to hard work. She’s a clerk It probably has something to do at the Mediation Tribunal Associa- with differences in state economies tion in Detroit, which helps settle — some rely more on manufactur- lawsuits out of court. ing than others, for example. But re- After 22 years on the job, she’s searchers still haven’t pinned down making more than her husband, what makes that gap wider in Michi- who’s a driver for Detroit’s Depart- gan than in neighboring states, said ment of Transportation. Jennifer Wooley, who studies ”You’ve got to do the job right and women’s economic issues at the Cen- stick with it,” she said. “I’ve come a ter for Policy Alternatives in Wash- long way.” ington. You can reach Brad Heath (313) ”There’s no easy answer,” she 222-2563 or said. mailto:[email protected]