Pay Gap Between Men and Women in Wisconsin Worse than the National Gap

Thursday, March 14th, 2024 -- 12:00 PM

(Joe Schulz, Wisconsin Public Radio) The pay gap for men and women in Wisconsin is worse than the gap between genders nationally, even as female representation on the state’s corporate boards continues to grow.

According to Joe Schulz with Wisconsin Public Radio, nationally, women working in full-time, year-round jobs earn about 84 cents for every dollar a man makes, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.

In Wisconsin, women make nearly 81 cents to every dollar a man makes, Census Bureau data shows. A recent report from the University of Wisconsin-Extension found the pay gap persists, even for those with college degrees.

Roughly one-third of the gap between men and women’s wages can be explained by things like age, education level, or choices of occupation or industry, but nearly 70 percent of the pay gap cannot be explained, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Sarah Jane Glynn, chief economist for the Labor Department, said at least a portion of the unexplained pay gap is caused by discrimination, despite state and federal laws prohibiting workplace discrimination.

“We can’t quantify the impact of discrimination directly through economic modeling,” she said. “But we know, and have seen consistently for decades, that stereotypes and discrimination in employment absolutely limit the opportunities of women, and they limit the opportunities of people of color, when it comes to earnings and job opportunities.”

Julie Keller, executive director of the nonprofit Women’s Fund for the Fox Valley Region, said women are often penalized for exhibiting the same qualities that make men successful leaders.  She said behaviors by a man that are seen as being “confident and decisive” are viewed as being “intimidating or bossy” when done by a woman.

“A lot of strong women are not promoted to those higher levels because those qualities are not valued in a woman like they are a man,” Keller said. Glynn and Keller said efforts to increase pay transparency among employers could help address the pay gap. When people know what’s a fair wage for their job, Glynn said, it’s much easier to identify and address inequities.

“The status quo is like, ‘nice people don’t talk about money,’ so it makes it really hard for women to know when they are being discriminated against,” she said. “If you don’t have folks around you who are willing to share that information, it can make it really difficult to find out that there is a wage gap.”

A bill introduced by Democrats in the state Legislature would have required employers include a wage or salary range in job listings, but it failed to get a committee hearing in the state Assembly.

Keller also said employers should think about conducting internal salary audits to make sure they aren’t unintentionally discriminating against employees.

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