Pay equality has been a major concern for decades.
With women entering the workforce and comprising higher levels of university graduates, there remains a gender gap as far as compensation is concerned.
This compensation gap has given prominence to two phrases – pay equity and pay equality.
As we strive for a more balanced and less biased world, these two terms are important in considering how we create a compensation structure that benefits everyone fairly.
Pay equity vs. pay equality
Though these terms may have overlapping ideas, they are not exactly interchangeable with each other.
Pay equity is deeply rooted in fairness of value and contribution. This states that two employees of similar experience and skill should be paid the same for the same type of work.
However, payment can differ if their market value is different. For example, if one employee has a higher qualification, education or greater job experience than the other, he or she, in an equitable system stands to earn more.
With pay equity, your salary is tied to your worth in the job market. The more value you contribute, the higher compensation you can command. It is a structure that emphasises fairness for value. You are paid what you’re worth to the labour market.
Pay equality, like pay equity emphasises that discrimination, bias and injustice have no role in compensation. Individuals cannot be paid differently or discriminated against based on their sex, ethnicity, age or socio-economic background.
Equality embraces the notion that employees are paid, on average, the same across the board. Unlike popular opinion, it does not necessarily mean everyone receives the same dollar amount for their job.
For example, a Finance Manager in Company A doing the same job as a Finance Manager in Company B, does not necessarily have to receive the exact same compensation.
However, the Caribbean labour market usually places an average salary for every job. Pay equality observes the principle that employees with the same job title, performing the same tasks, should both be compensated within the average job salary the market has decided.
What are the causes for the Caribbean wage gap?
While there have been considerable strides in income equality and distribution for persons of various genders, ages and ethnicity, there remains a wage gap.
It has been reported by international banking organisations that women in Latin America earn 70 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make.
Similarly, female employees make around 86% of what male employees earn in Barbados.
While the wage gaps have been closing steadily, there remains a great deal of work left to be done to achieve a balanced and equitable approach to compensation in the Caribbean.
The first step can be exploring the possible causes of this wage gap:
Female concentration in low-paying occupations
Some occupations, because of their technical skill requirement such as STEM jobs tend to pay far greater than service industries.
Reportedly, women tend to comprise much of the service-level jobs in the Caribbean. From teachers, to customer service staff and administration, while these roles are functionally important, they do tend to be valued less than technology or executive level roles.
As such, the pay equity in this case might be more of the issue than equality, as service-based roles, held substantially by women do not hold the same market value as jobs where women form the minority.
Matrifocal households
Many Caribbean homes are matrifocal, where the wife or mother is a key figure in managing the the household.
Despite some changes to this structure, Caribbean women still act as the domestic and economic backbone of their homes.
For example, recent statistics in Trinidad & Tobago report that approximately 30% of households are single-parent homes. More than half of this figure represent single-mother households.
Likewise in Barbados, 42% of households are matrifocal, compared to 44% in Antigua and Barbuda.
With female employees having such a forefront role in their families, their responsibilities tend to be more diverse outside of the workplace.
Their diverse domestic and economic responsibilities can act as a hindrance to career advancement. As such, female employees in this circumstance may still find themselves having to choose between their own career advancement or the wellbeing of their family.
Very often, female employees who are heads of their households do not enjoy the luxury of making career advancement their top priority as they understandably tend to place their family wellbeing first.
Social norms
Women have made significant strides in education, climbing the corporate ladder and closing the wage gap.
Nevertheless, there remain some silent stereotypes about feminine employment and the capabilities of a woman at an executive or leadership level. Some of these silent concerns include:
- Can female employees demonstrate the ability to make tough decisions?
- Do female employees have the time to devote wholly to their career?
- Can a female executive command the respect of her male colleagues?
- Can a female leader embody the characteristics of leadership, which have been historically classified as masculine qualities – assertiveness, decisiveness, charisma, confidence, emotional toughness and a fierce competitive nature?
While some of these stereotypes have been successfully challenged and disproven, there still remains a small but ever-present unspoken bias against female leadership and advancement.
This bias can subtly influence the earning potential of a female employee in comparison to her male counterparts.
Suggestions to bridge the gender pay gap
Even though this topic might be universal and an ongoing battle, certain measures can be put in place by employers to ensure fair compensation is practiced.
These include:
- Supporting labour legislation that promote the opportunities, equal employment and fair compensation of both men and women in the workplace.
- Support for female employees. As a lot of Caribbean women are at the centre of their family wellbeing, incentives for childcare, health and financial support can be beneficial.
- Skill training aimed at female advancement. Companies and communities can invest in training opportunities that enable women to develop high-demand skills to boost their earning potential and even create their own opportunities. Even though stereotypes and bias may always exist to some degree, having a range of in-demand skills can only enable female employees to elevate themselves in their career.
- Employers can foster a fair and equitable workplace by implementing and upholding corporate policies that promote equity pay and the fair treatment of all employees.
