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Women Still to Achieve Pay EquityProfessor Bidgood Speaks at League Luncheon Meeting "Today, employers still see women as transitory workers, and women are hired and paid on this basis," stated Professor Josie Bidgood at the Honolulu League's December luncheon meeting at the Outrigger Canoe Club. She went on to say that women are overrepresented in low-paying jobs such as that of clericals and domestic workers. Forty percent of the professional workers are women, but they are more likely to be at the lower entry levels of these professions. Though the Equal Pay Act was passed twenty years ago to promote equal pay for equal work, women still earn only 59% for each dollar earned by men. One of the causes for this disparity is the reluctance of women to unionize. Women represent less than 20% of union membership. Since women in unions make more money, why do women resist union membership? Women tend to be in the most competitive businesses such as the garment industry where labor costs need to be kept down. Also, white-collar workers as a group are most reluctant to join unions. Another cause for the disparity is the fact that sex segregation in jobs still exist. Because women don't perform the same kinds of work that men do, the Equal Pay Act cannot always be used to seek legal redress. Women's organizations, labor unions, and civil right activists have turned to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as a legal basis for obtaining equal pay for work of comparable value, utilizing the so-called comparable worth or pay equity doctrine. Major improvements will most probably come from these groups and not from government. HISTORY OF WOMEN IN THE JOB MARKET Professor Bidgood gave a quick run down of the history of female employment. A century ago, only single women and poor women worked. Women went into teaching or did more menial work. After World War I, more women entered the service industries such as teaching and nursing. Then came the depression and women were pressured into leaving their jobs to make room for unemployed men. Where 22% of the employed were women at the turn of the century, this fell to 18%. As the economy improved, more women were hired, and with the advent of World War II, more women entered work formerly primarily held by men. After the war years, employment of women fell 10%. Then, with the growth of the service industries---jobs that required some education but offered low pay---more and more women were hired. THE NUMBER OF WORKING WOMEN WILL CONTINUE TO RISE. Today, over 50% of American women over the age of 18 are gainfully employed, and this percentage will continue to rise because economic conditions will demand it. Spiraling inflation has made it necessary for more women to supplement their family incomes. Further, 40% of marriages will end in divorce. There are 13 million single women and families headed by women. Women also have become more interested in having careers of their own, and many women are coming back to the job market after their children are grown.
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