As fear of an economic recession hits close to home, a new study suggests Pennsylvania women could feel a harder hit than the state's men -- and Centre County is leading the plunge.
The Keystone Research Center (KRC) released a study in late October stating the "gender wage gap" that was once slowly closing has now stalled, showing no major improvement after years of progress.
KRC Labor Economist Mark Price, who headed the research, said that since 2003, Pennsylvania women have experienced a drop in hourly wages of 50 cents. Price said Pennsylvania reflects the national average, with women both local and nationwide earning 78 cents for every dollar a man earns.
"As labor markets remain weak, wages for large groups of workers, including women, have not performed well," Price said. "Women, although they made a lot of progress in the early '80s and even over the '90s in closing the gap, in the period since 2001, they haven't made real progress," Price said.
Robert Drago, Penn State professor of labor studies and employment relations and women's studies, said he was not surprised by the study's findings, adding he was anticipating the stall.
"The economy has tilted towards the rich, and working people didn't have enough money to buy things," Drago said. "People couldn't afford to shop at Wal-Mart. There is an uneven distribution."
According to the study, State of Women in the Pennsylvania Workforce 2008, the median annual earnings for women was $32,891 compared to men at $44,358, and Twelve percent of Pennsylvania women live below the poverty line, compared to 8 percent of men. The numbers are more extreme in Centre County, with the median annual earnings for women at $28,972 and men at $41,390. The amount of people living below the poverty line is also higher in Centre County, with 20 percent of women and 19 percent of men, according to the report.
But some students aren't worried. Allison Schreib (freshman-chemistry) said in her field, she might experience a gender wage gap in her favor.
"For my major ... if you're a girl, you're going to make the same as a guy if not more, but I know its happening in a lot of other [fields]," she said.
Schreib added if she experienced a gender wage gap in her own career, she would contact management and seek justice.
"I'd get all the facts and figures right, and then like attack," she said.
Price, who used data from as early as 1979 to document the stall, said the pace of job growth in the economy has generally not been good, but women have suffered more because they fill the majority of low-wage occupations.
"One of the reasons we do still see a gap in earnings between men and women is because women tend to be concentrated in the lowest-paying occupations in our economy," Price said. "[Women] represent the vast majority of childcare workers, wait staff."
Price said a way to close the gap is to increase minimum wage, adding there is research to suggest joining unions could raise wages.
However, the problem does not only exist in low-wage jobs, Price said. Even in higher-paying occupations, women are earning lower incomes compared to male counterparts.
Drago said part of this trend is because of a prejudice many employers hold toward women with children. A solution could be to provide more affordable early childhood education, so women can work without compromising their careers.
Price suggests a need for a broader cultural change in men who don't participate in housework. He said the majority of household work and caring for children is still done by women.
"Even if a woman takes a full-time job, she still isn't done working when she gets home, which isn't often the case for men," Price said.
Drago said most female college students are completely unaware of the gender wage gap, but because of the state of national economy, students are paying more attention overall.
"That means being really smart about where you apply," Drago said.
