07th May 2006
The Mommy Penalty
It is probably not a surprise to women with children that they earn less than women without children. But did you know it was so much?
From The Nation (through a link from Ann):
Recent Cornell University research by Shelley Correll confirms what many American women are finding: Mothers are 44 percent less likely to be hired than nonmothers who have the same résumé, experience and qualifications; and mothers are offered significantly lower starting pay. Study participants offered nonmothers an average of $11,000 more than equally qualified mothers for the same high-salaried job.Correll’s groundbreaking research adds to the long line of studies that explore the roots of this maternal wage gap. “We expected to find that moms were going to be discriminated against, but I was surprised by the magnitude of the gap,” explains Correll. “I expected small numbers, but we found huge numbers. Another thing was that fathers were actually advantaged, and we didn’t expect fathers to be offered more money or to be rated higher.” But that’s what happened.
This isn’t an issue of meditating more, finding balance better, learning how to delegate, etc. This is an issue of systematic economic discrimination. I rarely get to use this word, but clearly we have some MotherFuckers on our hands. Literally.
