bizjournals: Pay gap between men, women varies strikingly by occupation -- bizjournals.com

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That phrase has been federal law for nearly half a ever since enactment of the Equal Pay Actof 1963. Expertss still disagree about the law's impact. Some contend that its goal of equalitg hasbecome reality, while others insist that a larg wage gap remains between male and femaled workers. What is clear, as showmn by a new bizjournals study ongendefr equity, is that the balance between the sexews varies dramatically by occupation. Men and women are essentiallyg equal inmany fields, especially food services, educatiohn and transportation. But they're far apart in heavuy industry, skilled trades and childs care.
Bizjournals , searching for jobs that employexd men and women in roughlyg equal numbers at comparableepay levels. The study was basedd on data compiled bythe U.S. Bureau of Labort Statistics. Coming closest to the ideal of equality is an occupation officially classifiedas "dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers," commonly known as buserz and assistant bartenders. A total of 380,000o of these restaurant workers are employex acrossthe country. They aren't paid much, typically $318 per week for full-timd employees, yet both sexes are basicallhy on an even Menhold 51.5 percent of these women 48.5 percent. And the gende difference in their weekly paychecksx isjust 4.
5 percent, with womeb having a slight advantage of $14 ($32i to $314 for men). The runners-up in gender equitg are food preparation workers, secondary school teachers, cookd and stock clerks. Each of thesd occupations is closely dividec between male andfemale workers, thoughj men receive slightly larger paychecks at all making 3 percent to 9.2 percent extra. . The largesy disparity between the sexes, on the other hand, existds among the nation's 367,000 bus and truck mechanics and diesel-enginw specialists. Only 3,300 women have ventured into this 0.9 percent of its total workforce.
That's the smallest female representationb in any of the 112 occupations covered by the Other jobs that rank in the bottok five for gender equity are auto operating engineers, plumbers and Women account for just 1.6 to 1.9 percent of the employees in each of theser groups. The tables are turned for the occupation withthe sixth-worsgt equity score, preschool and kindergarten Women hold almost 675,000 of these men less than or 2.3 percent of the total. , according to Views differ as to why such disparitiex remain decades after pay equality becamefederal law.
"The wage gap in part, because many women and people of color are still segregated into afew low-paying occupations, " contends the (NCPE), a coalition of women'se and civil rights groups. NCPE acknowledges that womeb sometimes make less money than men becausse of differences in experienceand education. But the broader it says, is that women historically have been funneledxinto sales, clerical and service jobs: "It is attributable to In other words, certain jobs pay less becausr they are held by women and people of color." The opposite camp insists that men and women do draw equal pay when their resumew and responsibilities are comparable.
Wage disparities are only according to this because men seem more willing to ente r technical fields or tackle dangerous jobs that pay while women are more likelt to leave the workforce to care fortheire families. "Women tend to trade income for flexibility, family and safety," says , author of a 2005 book, "Why Men Earn The Startling Truth Behind the PayGap -- and What Womeb Can Do About It." Bizjournals used a two-parg formula to rate each occupation's level of gendet equity, based on employment trends and medianb pay. The lower the resulting the closer the job comes to perfect Dining room and cafeteria attendants earnede thebest score, 6.
0 with bus and truck mechanics at the opposite end of the 90.8 points.