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Spice of Life: Making amends, for every woman in the workforce
As I read the piece of news and remembered the conversation with my friend, I was subdued and slightly ashamed of my thoughtless reaction and blithe acceptance of the fact that it is legitimate for a woman to be paid less for the same time and work.
Just the other day a friend called asking if I knew anyone who could arrange a male nurse as caregiver for her ailing father-in-law. Fortunately, I had someone in mind who agreed to the job and I sent him over. When it came to discussing the financial aspect of it, both of us agreed that a man would expect more remuneration than a woman in the same job. Our rationale was that the man is probably responsible for running his household, has children to send to school and other familial obligations, too.
What a couple of sexist and bigoted ladies we were! Quick to put down our own sex and pander to the antiquated belief that men are superior beings.
And to talk of happenstance, the next day, the newspaper headlines were all agog, applauding Claudia Goldin winning the Nobel Prize for Economics, 2023, for her intensive study into causes of gender gap earnings all over the world. According to her painstaking and protracted research, women the world over have had to participate on unequal and unfair terms in the labour market not on the basis of biological differences apropos the male sex but because there come about inherent differences in pay packages when a woman loses time due to child birth and infant care. This happens in the most advanced countries, as an apathetic and established practice. Also, the fairer sex is regarded easily compromised and vulnerable and so are taken advantage of.
As I read the piece of news and remembered the conversation with my friend, I was subdued and slightly ashamed of my thoughtless reaction and blithe acceptance of the fact that it is legitimate for a woman to be paid less for the same time and work.
If I as an educated woman, with modern and contemporary ideas, forward-minded and progressive am easily willing to accept disparity and unfair inequality, then what about those millions of less fortunate women who have to step out every day of their lives to earn a living supporting their families, with no voice or recourse, subject to extreme compulsions and having to quietly accept whatever is grudgingly offered as compensation?
As I discussed the episode threadbare with my son and daughter, expressing discomfiture and mortification at my blinkered and prejudiced approach, both of who are working and pursuing their passions, first made light of the situation, ‘Chill Mommy, at least you realised you were wrong so don’t go on a guilt trip now’, one quipped with a cheeky smile, while the other got an opportunity to call me out for my habit of impetuous decisions and hasty reactions.
But then on a serious note I thought that the regret and awareness that dawned on me, after reading the news of Goldin’s prize and research, is a tiny, vital step towards the recognition of the age-old lapse, a glimmer of hope for change and a harbinger of a new world where there is fairness and parity in earnings for every woman in the workforce.
The writer is a Jalandhar-based freelance contributor and can be reached at pallavisingh358@gmail.com
