True gender equality will only occur when women are financially on the same footing as men. Many factors have been suggested for the gender wage gap, from women choosing lower paying jobs, to women being penalized for having children, to women not asking for the salaries they deserve. Factors that all focus on what women do.
In direct contrast, evidence suggests the gender pay gap starts early – before women chose a position, have children or are even in position to ask for equitable wages. According to a company that sells the app BusyKid, an app with 10,000+ users that allows parents to track children’s chores, allowances, and finances, boys are paid a weekly allowance that is twice that of girls: Boys average nearly $14 per week while girls average only $7. Boys are also given higher bonuses than girls – $17 versus $15.50. These findings are consistent with earlier survey data showing that girls work more for less money.
Most parents are probably totally unaware that they are treating their children differently – a lack of awareness that reveals a true gender blind spot. It also teaches children that females’ work is not worth as much – a lesson that reinforces the hesitancy of women to ask for more, and the unconscious acceptance by both men and women that women should get paid less. This, in and of itself, is another huge gender blind spot.
So how does one disrupt such behaviour? Here are 4 suggestions that apply to both allowances and wages.
- Shine a Light on Inequities. BusyKid published its findings so parents could see the gender inequities. Similarly, last year the UK government mandated the publication of all salaries. The gender differences in pay for most companies were jaw dropping and the publication brought the issue to world wide attention. It is only by exposing and acknowledging biased behaviour that we can change it.
- Start Disrupting to Shift Old Mindsets. Do things differently – switch things up. Don’t assign chores based on gender; have girls do the yard work and boys clean the kitchen or do the laundry. This will disrupt traditional stereotypes and teach children valuable skills. Unconscious classification of positions, careers and professions by gender is known as Positional Bias, and often influences hiring and advising. To disrupt this bias, view all positions on the basis of skills, abilities, qualifications and strengths rather than gender.
- Radically Change the System. Think outside the box and radically redesign a system to one that supports women. That is what SheEO did. SheEO is an organization that finances and celebrates female innovators through radical generosity. Rather than try to fit women into the existing model of funding or try to level the playing field, Vicky Saunders (the founder of SheEO) created an entirely new funding system for women entrepreneurs. Furthermore, SheEO’s phenomenal recent global growth has shown that the time has come for this type of change.
- Get Everyone Activated. Women can’t and shouldn’t be expected to combat gender wage inequality on their own. To have fathers, brothers, male bosses and managers helping to change and disrupt the old ways of thinking that perpetuate gender equality is sorely needed. For example, what if brothers started noticing the inequity in allowances and refused to accept that boys should get more? Recent corporate data from the US suggest that most men think that we have already achieved gender equality, making it even more important that men become active and engaged in achieving gender equality. Without such engagement, the time when women will have an equal financial footing with men is a very long way off.