Sunday, August 5, 2007

Young Women, Pay Gap, and the City?

Economist Heather Boushey weighs in at WIMN's Voices Group Blog on that New York Times article from Friday titled “For Young Earners in Big City, a Gap in Women’s Favor.” She writes,
I haven’t seen the full study, but I’d guess that NYC must have fewer of the highly paid (white?) men and more of the poorly paid men (Black and Hispanic?), relative to highly paid women of any race. Is this progress? If it’s because there are more young, low-wage men of color, I’m not so sure that this is a sign of college women’s progress....So, is this a story about women with college degrees moving to the big city and makin’ it or is it about a change in the demographics of cities, with more, very low wage men of color? It may be a bit of both, but while the article implies that this data show that women with college degrees are outperforming their male colleagues, there is nothing in the statistics presented that indicates this is the case.
I'm guessing this counterview never makes it mainstream. Instead, how long do we think it will be before the backlashy chorus--women outpacing men!--chimes in? If that chorus shines the light on raising wages for urban low-wage men of color, terrific. But I'm not holding my breath.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The backlash is already there. I already have a guy approach me on campus and asking me, "Hey, does this mean that you pro-feminist males and feminists are going to fight for men's rights now?"

I absolutely don't get it. For some reason, it was okay that women were making less than men since the beginning of civilization. But all the sudden, because of less than 2 percent of the population of women making for than men, it's a fucking outcry.

I'd like to think this is good news, but it's really not. On the contrary, add class into the equation and women are still getting their asses kicked.