Women Employed

Last updated
Women Employed (WE)
Founded1973
FounderDay Piercy
Type 501(c)(3)
Location
Website womenemployed.org

Women Employed is a nonprofit advocacy organization based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1973, Women Employed's mission is to improve women's economic status and remove barriers to economic equity. They promote fair workplace practices, increase access to training and education, and provide women with tools and information to move into careers paying family-supporting wages. [1]

Contents

History

In February 1973, a small group of Chicago women founded Women Employed (WE), through an initiative of the Loop YWCA. Organizers intended to mobilize networks of female workers around the common issues that affect their lives. [2]

Women Employed's first major public event, attended by over 200 women, was a meeting of 26 of Chicago's leading corporations to discuss fair employment policies for women. [3] In its first year, WE published Working Women in the Loop – Underpaid, Undervalued, an investigation that used 1970 U.S. Census data on wages and employment patterns to expose substantial inequalities between women and men. The study found that women made up 45% of downtown Chicago's labor force, yet earned only 25% of wages. [4]

In the 1970s, Women Employed worked for economic equality alongside organizations in Chicago like the Coalition of Labor Union Women. During that time, Women Employed fought hiring and job discrimination for non-union women in the city. [5] By organizing public and legal actions, WE influenced workplace practices by affecting the public's attitude toward equality for women. [6] In 1977, WE led a series of public actions against the firing of Iris Rivera, a Chicago legal secretary who lost her job because she refused to make coffee for her boss. WE eventually got Rivera her job back. [6]

In 1989, Women Employed helped women and minority employees of the Harris Trust and Savings Bank win $15 million in back pay, a record settlement for sexual and racial discrimination. Women Employed filed a complaint with the Federal Government against Harris in 1974 on the basis of Executive Order 11246. Prior to this case, companies were never forced to make payments surpassing $10 million in back wages for sex or racial discrimination cases. [7] WE also worked with a national coalition to win passage of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act in 1993, which ensures employees up to 12 weeks of leave for medical purposes. [8]

In 2003, WE helped pass the Illinois Equal Pay Act, which guarantees protection of equal pay for equal work to hundreds of thousands of workers not covered under the federal law. [9] In 2006, WE helped win $34.4 million in funding for the Monetary Award Program (MAP) grant, making college more accessible to more than 150,000 low-income students in Illinois. [10]

WE was part of a national coalition that advocated for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the first women's rights legislation passed during the Obama administration. [11] This law, signed in early 2009, increases employees' ability to fight pay discrimination.

In 2010, the US Department of Labor selected WE's Career Coach as a Top 10 Career Exploration Tool. [12] Career Coach enables low-income, low-literacy adults to explore career options, define career goals, and identify local education and training resources. [13]

Current initiatives

Promoting fair workplaces

Despite many improvements in women's economic status over the past three decades, employment discrimination and unfairness in the workplace are still a fact of life for many women. On average, women make only 80 cents for every dollar a man makes, and can lose an immense amount of wages over a lifetime due to the wage gap which persists despite education level. [14] A disproportionate number of women are clustered in low-paying, part-time jobs, often without benefits or dependable hours. [15]

Women Employed promotes equal pay, fair workplace practices, and work-family balance. [16] Women Employed also advocates for stronger anti-discrimination laws and equal employment opportunities in workplaces. As the leader of the Earned Sick Time Chicago Coalition, Women Employed played a leadership role in advocating for paid sick time ordinances in Chicago and Cook County. Those ordinances both passed in 2016, and went into effect on July 1, 2017. [17] As the leader of the Illinois Paid Leave Coalition, WE works with a large number of organizations to expand and defen paid sick leave policies, including related to the COVID-19 pandemic. [18]

Increasing access to education and training

Nearly 15 million women in the U.S. earn too little to cover basic living expenses for their families, despite working in full-time, year-round jobs. Education is one proven strategy for raising incomes. A woman with a two-year associate degree earns 28 percent more and a woman with a bachelor's degree earns 75 percent more than a woman with only a high school education. [19]

Women Employed advocates to ensure high-quality postsecondary education programs and to increase access to supports that help women succeed in education and training.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Labour economics</span> Study of the markets for wage labour

Labour economics, or labor economics, seeks to understand the functioning and dynamics of the markets for wage labour. Labour is a commodity that is supplied by labourers, usually in exchange for a wage paid by demanding firms. Because these labourers exist as parts of a social, institutional, or political system, labour economics must also account for social, cultural and political variables.

Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any other entity, pays the other, the employee, in return for carrying out assigned work. Employees work in return for wages, which can be paid on the basis of an hourly rate, by piecework or an annual salary, depending on the type of work an employee does, the prevailing conditions of the sector and the bargaining power between the parties. Employees in some sectors may receive gratuities, bonus payments or stock options. In some types of employment, employees may receive benefits in addition to payment. Benefits may include health insurance, housing, and disability insurance. Employment is typically governed by employment laws, organisation or legal contracts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equal Pay Act of 1963</span> United States labor law of the New Frontier program

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is a United States labor law amending the Fair Labor Standards Act, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex. It was signed into law on June 10, 1963, by John F. Kennedy as part of his New Frontier Program. In passing the bill, Congress stated that sex discrimination:

Equal pay for equal work is the concept of labour rights that individuals in the same workplace be given equal pay. It is most commonly used in the context of sexual discrimination, in relation to the gender pay gap. Equal pay relates to the full range of payments and benefits, including basic pay, non-salary payments, bonuses and allowances. Some countries have moved faster than others in addressing equal pay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Babysitting</span> Temporary childcare

Babysitting is temporarily caring for a child. Babysitting can be a paid job for all ages; however, it is best known as a temporary activity for early teenagers who are not yet eligible for employment in the general economy. It provides autonomy from parental control and dispensable income, as well as an introduction to the techniques of childcare. It emerged as a social role for teenagers in the 1920s, and became especially important in suburban America in the 1950s and 1960s, when small children were abundant. It stimulated an outpouring of folk culture in the form of urban legends, pulp novels, and horror films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pink-collar worker</span> Someone working in the care-oriented career field

A pink-collar worker is someone working in the care-oriented career field or in fields historically considered to be women's work. This may include jobs in the beauty industry, nursing, social work, teaching, secretarial work, or child care. While these jobs may also be filled by men, they have historically been female-dominated and may pay significantly less than white-collar or blue-collar jobs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Women's Bureau</span> US government agency

The United States Women's Bureau (WB) is an agency of the United States government within the United States Department of Labor. The Women's Bureau works to create parity for women in the labor force by conducting research and policy analysis, to inform and promote policy change, and to increase public awareness and education.

Employment discrimination is a form of illegal discrimination in the workplace based on legally protected characteristics. In the U.S., federal anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination by employers against employees based on age, race, gender, sex, religion, national origin, and physical or mental disability. State and local laws often protect additional characteristics such as marital status, veteran status and caregiver/familial status. Earnings differentials or occupational differentiation—where differences in pay come from differences in qualifications or responsibilities—should not be confused with employment discrimination. Discrimination can be intended and involve disparate treatment of a group or be unintended, yet create disparate impact for a group.

The gender pay gap in the United States is a measure comparing the earnings of men and women in the workforce. The average female annual earnings is around 80% of the average male's. When variables such as hours worked, occupations chosen, and education and job experience are controlled for, the gap diminishes with females earning 95% as much as males. The exact figure varies because different organizations use different methodologies to calculate the gap. The gap varies depending on industry and is influenced by factors such as race and age. The causes of the gender pay gap are debated, but popular explanations include the "motherhood penalty," hours worked, occupation chosen, willingness to negotiate salary, and gender bias.

The Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights is a consortium of American law firms in Chicago that provides legal services in civil rights cases

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in the workforce</span> All women who perform some kind of job

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupational sexism</span> Discrimination based on the sex in a place of employment

Occupational sexism is discrimination based on a person's sex that occurs in a place of employment.

Occupational segregation is the distribution of workers across and within occupations, based upon demographic characteristics, most often gender. Other types of occupational segregation include racial and ethnicity segregation, and sexual orientation segregation. These demographic characteristics often intersect. While a job refers to an actual position in a firm or industry, an occupation represents a group of similar jobs that require similar skill requirements and duties. Many occupations are segregated within themselves because of the differing jobs, but this is difficult to detect in terms of occupational data. Occupational segregation compares different groups and their occupations within the context of the entire labor force. The value or prestige of the jobs are typically not factored into the measurements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paycheck Fairness Act</span> Proposed law to address the gender pay gap

The Paycheck Fairness Act is a proposed United States labor law that would add procedural protections to the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Fair Labor Standards Act as part of an effort to address the gender pay gap in the United States. A Census Bureau report published in 2008 stated that women's median annual earnings were 77.5% of men's earnings. Recently this has narrowed, as by 2018, this was estimated to have decreased to women earning 80-85% of men's earnings. One study suggests that when the data is controlled for certain variables, the residual gap is around 5-7%; the same study concludes that the residual is because "hours of work in many occupations are worth more when given at particular moments and when the hours are more continuous. That is, in many occupations, earnings have a nonlinear relationship with respect to hours."

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wage theft</span> Denial of wages or employee benefits rightfully owed to an employee

Wage theft is the failing to pay wages or provide employee benefits owed to an employee by contract or law. It can be conducted by employers in various ways, among them failing to pay overtime; violating minimum-wage laws; the misclassification of employees as independent contractors; illegal deductions in pay; forcing employees to work "off the clock", not paying annual leave or holiday entitlements, or simply not paying an employee at all.

The social and economic changes in Thailand in the past decades have important implications for the quality and quantity of labor. The economic and non-economic roles of women in Thailand can be traced back several hundred years in Thai history, when there were traditional discriminatory attitudes towards women in the culture of Thailand. The transformation of Thailand's social and economic structure since the 1960s led to the gender disparities in Thai society. Recently, the position of Thai women in the labor market has improved a lot in comparison to the past as a result of modernization. In 2011, Thailand ranked 69th out of 143 countries in the Gender Inequality Index. In labor economics, gender inequality is widely discussed in terms of concepts of sex segregation and employment discrimination. Thai government and non-governmental organizations have put forth many policies and programs to address gender inequalities in the last few decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gender pay gap</span> Average difference in remuneration amounts between men and women

The gender pay gap or gender wage gap is the average difference between the remuneration for men and women who are working. Women are generally found to be paid less than men. There are two distinct numbers regarding the pay gap: non-adjusted versus adjusted pay gap. The latter typically takes into account differences in hours worked, occupations chosen, education and job experience. In other words, the adjusted values represent how much women and men make for the same work, while the non-adjusted values represent how much the average man and woman make in total. In the United States, for example, the non-adjusted average woman's annual salary is 79–83% of the average man's salary, compared to 95–99% for the adjusted average salary.

The maternal wall is a term referring to stereotypes and various forms of discrimination encountered by working mothers and mothers seeking employment. Women hit the maternal wall when they encounter workplace discrimination because of past, present, or future pregnancies or because they have taken one or more maternity leaves. Women may also be discriminated against when they opt for part-time or flexible work schedules. Maternal wall discrimination is not limited to childcare responsibilities. Both men and women with caregiving responsibilities, such as taking care of a sick parents or spouse, may also result in maternal wall discrimination. As such, maternal wall discrimination is also described as family responsibilities discrimination. Research suggests that the maternal wall is cemented by employer stereotypes and gender expectations.

References

  1. ↑ "How We Work – Women Employed" . Retrieved 2019-05-20.
  2. ↑ Evans, Sara Margaret. Born for Liberty: A History of Women in America. p. 299.
  3. ↑ Women Employed, Women and Work: Shaping the Future, June 1993.
  4. ↑ Women Employed, Working Women in the Loop – Underpaid, Undervalued, 1973.
  5. ↑ Flanagan, Maureen A. "Feminist Movements" The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. 2005.
  6. 1 2 Lunardini, Christine. What Every American Should Know About Women's History: 200 Events That Shaped Our Destiny. 1997.
  7. ↑ Shenon, Philip. "Chicago Bank to Pay $14 Million In Resolving Discrimination Case." The New York Times. 11 January 1989.
  8. ↑ Kleiman, Carol. Chicago Tribune Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News 5 February 2002
  9. ↑ Office of the Governor of Illinois. Gov. Blagojevich marks anniversary of Illinois’ Equal Pay Act by highlighting enforcement successes since law went into effect in 2004. Press Release. 26 April 2007
  10. ↑ Rubin, Bonnie M. "Group helps rewrite woman's future by opening college door." Chicago Tribune. Sec. 4. 10 December 2006.
  11. ↑ U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Education and Labor. Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. 26 July 2010.
  12. ↑ US Department of Labor. Career Exploration Tools. 24 August 2010.
  13. ↑ Johnson, Amy. "Encouraging Career Asset Building Among Low-Income Individuals" National Career Development Association. 28 July 2010.
  14. ↑ Arons, Jessica, et al., "Why Aren't We There Yet? An Equal Pay Day 2009 Primer on the Wage Gap," Center for American Progress, 27 April 2009, 26 July 2010.
  15. ↑ Shulman, Beth. The Betrayal of Work (New Press, 2003) 72-73.
  16. ↑ "Our Work". Women Employed. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  17. ↑ "Office of the City Clerk - Record #: O2016-2678". chicago.legistar.com. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  18. ↑ "Paid Sick Days & COVID-19". Women Employed. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  19. ↑ Smith, Betty. "Single women still face uphill battle." Tahlequah Daily Press, 31 July 2008, 26 July 2010.
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