Nearly half a century ago, women made great strides in advocating for equality and the Equal Pay Act was enacted with the goal of abolishing sex discrimination when establishing wages. Almost 50 years later, a wage gap continues to exist in California.

According to data collected by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of Labor, women who worked full time, a minimum of 35 hours per week, in 2009 were still paid 20 percent less than their male counterparts were. The average salary for women was $657 while men earned on average $819 per week.

While some women made much more than the average, gaps existed in each level of employment. Women who worked in management, held positions as chief executives, compliance officers and other positions of authority made 72.7 percent of what the men made in the same classification group.

Not only are women in similar jobs are paid overall less, but entire job sectors that are considered to be stereotypically suitable for women receive less compensation. Those jobs include teachers as well as the food preparation industry.

According to the data, sex discrimination continues to exist. In one study, researchers found that sex discrimination was not only exhibited by employers, but by customers as well. The research study was based upon customer satisfaction responses after observing a male and female “worker” who said the exact same words and made the exact same motions as one another in a video. The study found that 19 percent of customers gave the male a higher “satisfaction” rating.

Source: Around Dublin “Gender Wage Gap Still Exists in California” 1/6/11