Wage gap narrowing as Millenials demand gender equality

The gender wage gap is narrowing but it still exists, as women now make 95% of the pay that men do on average, finds a study by Pew Research.

While Millennial women, who are 18 to 32 years old, are better-educated than their mothers, grandmothers and even their male counterparts, they still see hurdles to excelling in the workforce.

The young women surveyed say that women are paid less than men for doing the same job, and that it’s easier for men to get executive jobs than women.

The majority of millenial men and women surveyed agree more work needs to be done to create equality in the workforce. But the study also found that just 15% of young women say they have been discriminated against at work because of their gender. Read more from the study here.

This week, General Motors announced that Mary Barra would be its first-ever female CEO. Since 2002, the number of women leading Fortune 500 companies has risen from less than 1% to 4%, the New Yorker reports.

The magazine went into its archives and found some illuminating quotes from women executives, including this one from Helen Buttenwieser, a trustee of the Title Guarantee and Trust Co, and a lawyer, speaking in 1949 about her decision to quit her law firm before the birth of her son:

“They didn’t even have women stenographers…. It wasn’t the kind of firm that would put up with a pregnant employee.”

And this from Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook and author of Lean In in 2011:

“What I believe, and that doesn’t mean everyone believes it, is that there are still institutional problems and we need more flexibility in all of this stuff. But much too much of the conversation is on blaming others, and not enough is on taking responsibility ourselves.”

Read more here.

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Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.