Source: Vantage Circle Blog
Since time immemorial there has been a fine line of distinction between a male and female. Now, this distinction is right when we are defining the physiological difference between a man and a woman. But as soon as this distinction is brought to gender roles, and payscale in jobs, this is when the actual problem of gender gaps starts.
In this article, I am going to talk about the Gender Wage gap that we see between a man and a woman. The topic of the wage gap is not new to us. We have seen a series of debates and discussions taking place on how to deal with this wage gap.
When does a Woman demand Her Proper Wage Does It Become Detrimental For Society Or Her Right?
The topic generally gained momentum with Kareena Kapoor Khan demanding money for her role as Sita in an upcoming mythological movie Ramayana. Actress Kareena Kapoor demanded 12 Crores for her role and was removed from the given role. This led to debates on the pay disparity that women suffer in industry and the workplace.
This is not what has happened for the very first time in the history of India or with Kareena Kapoor. This has been happening for centuries and tills now. But have we ever thought about why such disparity in pay scale when both are working in the same place and doing the same job?
The reasons are many. The first is the safety of women. Often women working in far-off places need to leave early or are given an early leave from the office by their manager or team leader so that they reach home safely and on time whereas men stay back late till night at work.
This leads to an increment in the salary of men and promotion due to their calibre and the amount of time and effort they give. In contrast, women men can hardly extend their time and effort and thus they get less paid for their work in comparison to men and there's no scene of promotion. Because this is what your boss sees at the end of the day. Right?! And will do nothing to change it….
The second reason is access to education. Your education qualification determines your level of and the kind of work you get. Generally, women have very less access to education when compared to men which are utterly disgusting and shocking at the same time. Less access or no access to education cannot give you highly qualified jobs when compared to men who have access to education which automatically makes them eligible for highly qualified jobs and hence pay disparity scale increases because of the difference in the kind of jobs they do.
Improvement In Pay Scale in Organised Sector But Why Deterioration in Unorganised Ones?
Though there is some sort of improvement in terms of the pay scale in the organised sector the unorganised sector has a huge difference when it comes to payscale. Many of them have laws and rule books where the company needs to pay both the employees an equal salary irrespective of their gender. Only their work, skill and efforts and hard work are taken into consideration while paying them. While in the unorganised sector labourers have a huge pay gap. Like the woman, labour might get 100 rupees for her back-breaking work whereas the man gets 200 rupees for the same work.
Maternity And Marriage Leaves: Reason To Justify Gender Wage Gap
Also, the leaves that a woman gets like maternity leave and leaves for her marritendends to play a big factor in her reduced wage whereas a man has less number of leaves when compared to women and can make most of their time in office. Though for me this cannot be a reason for a reduced wage for women and an increase for men just because he can give more time to the office she is not. Those who justify this reason are nothing but very hypocritical in their attitude and frame of mind.
Leadership Roles: Only Meant For Men?
Another reason for this pay gap is the under-representation of women in leadership bodies. Only one-third of women hold any strong position when it comes to leadership roles. Most of the time you will find more men in those leadership bodies than women.
Conclusion
In the end, the reasons for the pay gap might not be so authentic or logical. Yes, the gender pay gap is real but the reasons supporting the pay gap are not. Just a small effort can help you to overcome just reason. But this effort should not only be asked from the woman's side, even men have to make significant contributions to it. We have already made up our minds and established the fact that gender pay gaps exist. But how many of us have tried to narrow this gap and reduce its intensity? Very few are us.
Only discussions and debates will not bring solutions to reduce this pay disparity until and unless you put your discussions and debates into action. Until and unless you genuinely do something to remove the pay gap issue rather than just ranting about it or just by merely saying it. Put your actions into words and then see how revolutionary this pay disparity becomes and narrow downs the gender wage gap.
Written By - Riya Upadhyaya
Edited by - Kritika Sharma
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