Utah Gender Wage Gap

Does Utah have one of the widest wage gaps between men and women in the nation?

Yes. When it comes to the unadjusted gender wage gap, Utah has the second-highest wage gap in the U.S., with women making $0.69 for every $1 a man makes.[1]

There is no data available on the adjusted gender wage gap for Utah, but it is estimated that Utah women earn more than $0.949 for every $1 a man makes.[2]

What are the adjusted or unadjusted gender wage gaps and how are they defined?

Economists have defined the gender wage gap as "a metric that tells us the difference in pay (or wages, or income) between women and men."[3] The calculations for the adjusted gender wage gap account for differences in education, work experience, occupations, etc., while the unadjusted calculations do not.[4]

For example, an unadjusted gender wage gap might compare an experienced female architect's salary to that of an inexperienced male construction worker, while the adjusted gap would compare a male and female architect with similar backgrounds

What is the adjusted age gap used for? Why not use the unadjusted pay gap information?

Controlling for more variables means more precise data, which enables policymakers and business leaders to better identify ways of promoting economic opportunities for women.[5]

In a 2009 report, the U.S. Department of Labor stated that the unadjusted pay gap can be "used in misleading ways" and doesn't explain the true causes of the gap.[6] The St. Louis Federal Reserve noted that the unadjusted number is a bad indicator on which to base corrective actions.[7]

By controlling for age, education, experience, location, job level, company, and function, the adjusted wage gap provides a more accurate assessment of the individual circumstances of women.[8] It also tends to lower the discrepancy to between 2% and 6%.[9] Unadjusted values are less specific and indicate a gap of about 24%.[10]

What kind of controls does the adjusted gap use?

Some controls include age, education, experience, location, job level, company, and function.[11]

For example, controlling for weekly hours worked significantly reduces the national gender pay gap,[12] because on average and across all industries, women in the U.S. work fewer hours a week than men.[13] This is also true in "white collar" occupations such as physicians,[14] lawyers,[15] and MBAs.[16] Even within unionized occupations (which are designed to be equalized), women work less overtime and take more unpaid time off.[17]

What does the gender wage gap have to do with the Church?

Some researchers have argued that religion plays a major role in Utah's gender wage gap, particularly with the Church's focus on family, motherhood, and child-rearing.[18]

The Church teaches that "mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children" and "fathers . . . are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families."[19]

How do the Church's teachings on family and motherhood influence the gender wage gap?

The Church teaches that mothers have a responsibility to nurture their children and fathers have a responsibility to earn a living and support their families financially.[20] Latter-day Saints make up the majority of Utah's population.[21] Utah has the highest birth rate[22] and one of the highest fertility rates in the nation.[23]

Having children plays a major role in women's decisions about occupation and work hours,[24] which contributes to the unadjusted gender wage gap.[25]

So does the Church teach that women shouldn't work?

Yes and no. The Church teaches that "fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners" and that "circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation."[26]

Church leaders have recognized various circumstances in which women have to work, though the ideal has still been taught that they should ideally be stay-at-home mothers.[27] However, many women in Church leadership[28] and wives of apostles have worked full-time in prestigious occupations,[29] which demonstrates an openness to women earning a living and finding personal fulfillment in their careers.

But in the past, did the Church used to teach that women shouldn't work?

Yes. While "exceptions" were acknowledged, Church leadership taught that women should stay at home.[30][31]

What outcomes do Church teachings have on women in the workplace?

By encouraging women to have children and be mothers, the Church could put Latter-day Saint women at a disadvantage in the workplace, as raising children directly impacts career progression.[32] This may contribute to existing discrimination in the workplace.[33]

However, according to research from Pew Research Center, American parents find almost twice as much meaning in childcare experiences than they do in employment.[34] Looking at women specifically, over half of all working moms reported they would rather stay home, and over half of stay-at-home moms reported that their desire to raise children was a "major reason" for not working.[35]

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Footnotes

[1]↩︎
According to Census Bureau data, the size of Utah's unadjusted gender wage gap is second only to Wyoming.
Other researchers have found that women on average make about 30% less than men.
[2]↩︎
This figure comes from a 2018 Payscale report. Unfortunately, it does not provide adjusted gender wage gaps for all states.
The narrowest adjusted gender wage gaps were in Connecticut, Vermont, Oregon, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Alaska, and the District of Columbia. The largest adjusted gender wage gaps were in Alabama and Louisiana.
The Payscale report indicates that Utah's gender wage gap is wider than the most narrow states but smaller than that of Louisiana and Alabama. This makes Utah's gap below 5.1%.
- Payscale report lists Louisiana and Alabama as the states with the highest adjusted gender pay gaps.
[3]↩︎
Oxford economists Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Max Roser defined this understanding of the gender wage gap on their webpage Our World in Data, which collects and publishes data on global poverty, inequality, economic development, violence, and more. The publication is a collaboration between researchers at the University of Oxford and the non-profit Global Change Data Lab.
- Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Max Roser for Our World in Data provide an overview of gender wage gap.
[4]↩︎
One pair of scholars explained:
The uncontrolled . . . gender pay gap compares the median (or mean) earnings of men and women in general without taking into consideration variables such as hours worked, level of education, type of job, industry, and other demographics. . . . That’s addressed with the controlled gender pay gap. This is done using statistical techniques to control for such variables to better reflect the true gender pay gap.
A 2009 report prepared for the U.S. Department of Labor stated that the unadjusted pay gap can be "used in misleading ways to advance public policy agendas without fully explaining the reasons behind the gap." Another report by the St. Louis Federal Reserve described it as an "improper indicator."
[5]↩︎
Economist Diana Fuchtgott-Roth worried that policymakers relying on the unadjusted gender wage gap "will overreact to false discrimination claims and pass legislation that will slow the growth of jobs in America for both men and women."
Alyson Reed, formerly of the National Committee on Pay Equity, noted that "not all of the wage gap is attributable to outright wage discrimination." She argued for the possibility that gender "differences in experience, training and occupation themselves reflect larger workplace and societal discrimination" that need to be addressed.
Researchers who have described Utah's gender wage gap as problematic have also acknowledged that the gender wage gap shrinks significantly when proper controls are applied.
[6]↩︎
In a 2009 report prepared by CONSAD Research Corporation, the US Department of Labor stated that "the raw wage gap continues to be used in misleading ways to advance public policy agendas without fully explaining the reasons behind the gap."
The report continued:
Although additional research in this area is clearly needed, this study leads to the unambiguous conclusion that the differences in the compensation of men and women are the result of a multitude of factors and that the raw wage gap should not be used as the basis to justify corrective action.
- US Department of Labor states that the unadjusted gender wage gap can be "used in misleading ways".
[7]↩︎
In this report, economists Natalia A. Kolesnikova and Yang Liu explained:
Current research suggests that gender earnings disparity has declined but not disappeared. The adjusted (“true”) gender wage gap, however, is substantially smaller than the raw gender wage gap. Because of this, the raw gender gap is the improper indicator for policymakers to use to justify corrective actions.
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis report concludes that "the raw gender gap is the improper indicator" for policy decisions.
[8]↩︎
Economist Diana Furchtgott-Roth explained:
When the wage gap is analyzed by individual occupations, jobs and employee characteristics, regional labor markets, job titles, job responsibility, and experience; then the wage gap shrinks. . . . When these differences are considered, many studies show that men and women make about the same.
She also added, "The danger is not that progress for women in slowing, but that Congress will overreact to false discrimination claims and pass legislation that will slow the growth of jobs in America for both men and women."
- Furchtgott-Roth reviews the literature on the gender wage gap; states that proper adjustments significantly shrink the gap.
[9]↩︎
After controlling for age, education, years of experience, job title, employer, and location, a 2016 Glassdoor report found that the average gender wage gap in the United States is 5.4%.
A study from the consulting firm Korn Ferry examined data from 33 countries and found that controlling for job level, company, and function reduces the average gender wage gap to less than 2%.
- Glassdoor report finds that the adjusted gender wage gap is significantly smaller than the raw wage gap.
- Korn Ferry study finds that controlling for job level, company, and function reduces the gender pay gap to under 2 percent.
[10]↩︎
The 2016 Glassdoor report found that the unadjusted gender wage gap in the U.S. was 24.1%.
- Glassdoor report finds that the adjusted gender wage gap is significantly smaller than the raw wage gap.
[11]↩︎
A 2016 Glassdoor report found that the unadjusted gender wage gap in the U.S. was 24.1%. After controlling for age, education, years of experience, job title, employer, and location, the report discovered that the gap dropped to 5.4%. This was true across five different countries.
A 2017 study in the Journal of Economic Literature found that gender differences in occupations and industries are the biggest contributors to the gender wage gap. Another 2018 study in The Quarterly Journal of Economics found that female college graduates preferred greater work flexibility and job stability to higher pay.
A 2020 report by the Utah Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights found that "occupational segregation explains half of the gender wage gap" in Utah.
[12]↩︎
Economist Claudia Goldin's research found:
The impact of hours on the gender gap is large and goes far to explain much of the gender earnings gap. Individuals who work long hours in these occupations receive a disproportionate increase in earnings.
Other scholars have referred to this as "men and women mak[ing] different choices over the life cycle."
- American Economic Review study finds that the gender wage gap is largely due to hours worked.
- St. Louis Fed study notes that different life choices between men and women lead to different wage outcomes.
[13]↩︎
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this has been the case since the 1970s. In 1976, women across all industries worked an average of 34.1 hours a week while men worked an average of 41.7 hours a week. In 2020, women across all industries worked an average of 36.1 hours a week, while men worked an average of 40.2 hours a week.
A 2014 study in the American Sociological Review also found that men tend to engage in more overtime (50+ hours a week).
- Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows a consistent "weekly hours at work" gap between men and women since the 1970s.
- American Sociological Review study finds that men engage in more overwork than women.
[14]↩︎
A 2012 study in the Journal of Human Capital found:
The median male physician with 10 years of experience works 11 hours per week more than the median female physician in our sample with 10 years of experience.
A recent study in The Review of Economic Studies found that the long hours in the medical profession deter women from entering it at all.
- Journal of Human Capital study finds that female physicians work fewer hours than male physicians.
- The Review of Economic Studies finds that long hours deter women from entering the medical profession.
[15]↩︎
A 2017 study in the Journal of Political Economy found that male lawyers bill, on average,10% more hours than women lawyers.
According to economist Claudia Goldin's research, women's hours tend to drop with the arrival of children.
- Journal of Political Economy study finds that male lawyers bill more hours than female lawyers.
- American Economic Review study finds that the gender wage gap is largely due to hours worked.
[16]↩︎
Economist Claudia Goldin found that women with MBAs who had children worked 24% fewer hours on average than men with MBAs. Women with MBAs who did not have children worked only 3.3% fewer hours.
- American Economic Journal: Applied Economics study finds that male MBAs work more hours than female MBAs.
- American Economic Review study finds that the gender wage gap is largely due to hours worked.
[17]↩︎
A 2022 study of unionized bus and train operators found that women workers earned $0.89 for every $1 their male coworkers earned. This was due to women working less overtime and taking more unpaid time off.
- Journal of Labor Economics study finds that female union bus/train operators work less overtime and take more time-off than male operators.
[18]↩︎
In a 2017 SquareTwo article, Susan Madsen, Robbyn T. Scribner, and Janika Dillon argued:
Mormon culture emphasizes marriage and motherhood as a high priority for women, which is demonstrated by the fact that Utah has the nation’s highest marriage rate, the earliest age for marriage, the second-highest fertility rate, and the largest average household size. These factors contribute to the high gender wage gap, since many women in the state prioritize family during their key earning years, which can leave them at a disadvantage in wage potential and actual pay.
Others have made similar statements about religious states in general.
[19]↩︎
The Church laid out these roles in its 1995 "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." What's more, these gendered responsibilities are understood to be "by divine design."
- Text of "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" issued by the Church (September 1995).
[20]↩︎
Before outlining parents' roles and responsibilities, the Church's proclamation on the family also states that "God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force."
- Text of "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" issued by the Church (September 1995).
[21]↩︎
In January 2020, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that Utah's population was 60.68% Latter-day Saint.
The Church's website placed the percentage at 66.07.
- SLT reports on Utah's LDS population.
- LDS statistics sheet shows the LDS population of Utah to be 66.07 percent.
[22]↩︎
As of 2022, Utah had a birth rate of 14.9 per 1,000 women. The Utah Department of Health reported that Utah's birth rate was higher than the U.S. average.
- Utah DoH reports that Utah has a higher birth rate than the U.S.
- World Population Review reports that Utah has the highest birth rate and one of the highest fertility rates in the country.
[23]↩︎
As of 2022, Utah had the fifth-highest fertility rate in the country. Utah's total fertility rate has been higher than the national total fertility rate since the 1920s.
[24]↩︎
Economist Claudia Goldin found that "children are the main contributors to women’s labor supply changes." She also noted that, overall, children are "the main contributor to the lesser job experience, greater career discontinuity, and shorter work hours for" women.
A 2018 study in The Quarterly Journal of Economics found that women generally prefer greater work flexibility and job stability over higher pay.
A 2012 study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology also found that a scarcity of men (and, consequently, a lower chance of starting a family) predicts women choosing higher-paying careers.
A 2020 report by the Utah Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights found that the gender wage gap in Utah increases during women's "prime childbearing years."
[25]↩︎
A 2009 report prepared for the U.S. Department of Labor stated, "The differences in raw wages may be almost entirely the result of the individual choices being made by both male and female workers."
This same report explained that these choices "account for most of the wage gap."
- US Department of Labor states that the unadjusted gender wage gap can be "used in misleading ways".
[26]↩︎
The Family: A Proclamation to the World reads:
By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.
Ulisses Soares recently taught,
Although husband and wife support each other in their divinely appointed responsibilities, “disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation.” Sometimes one spouse or the other will have the responsibility of acting in both roles simultaneously, whether temporarily or permanently.
- Text of "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" issued by the Church (September 1995).
- Ulisses Soares states that husband and wife are equal; different situations may require spouses to take on both divinely appointed roles.
[27]↩︎
Spencer W. Kimball taught that "through circumstances beyond their control, some mothers are faced with the added responsibility of earning a living." Elsewhere, he said, "Some women, because of circumstances beyond their control, must work." He also explicitly taught that women were "not to earn the living, except in unusual circumstances."
Ezra Taft Benson similarly taught,
We realize also that some of our choice sisters are widowed and divorced and that others find themselves in unusual circumstances where, out of necessity, they are required to work for a period of time. But these instances are the exception, not the rule.
Elsewhere, Benson called it a "misguided idea that a woman should leave the home, where there is a husband and children, to prepare educationally and financially for an unforeseen eventuality."
Richard G. Scott counseled husbands not to "encourage your wife to go to work to help in your divinely appointed responsibility of providing resources for the family. . . .work together to keep Mother in the home."
Ulisses Soares recently acknowledged, "Sometimes one spouse or the other will have the responsibility of acting in both roles simultaneously, whether temporarily or permanently."
[28]↩︎
For example, Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson practiced law for thirty years and was president of a law firm.
Kristen M. Yee, Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, worked for Disney Interactive Studios and now works for the Church's Publishing Services Department.
Sharon Eubank worked for the Church Welfare Department and was the director of Latter-Day Saint Charities when she was called to the Relief Society General Presidency.
Sheri Dew was vice president of publishing at Deseret Book when she was called to the Relief Society General Presidency.
Before being called to the Primary General Presidency, Tracy Y. Browning worked in financial services and was an accounting director for the Church’s Publishing Services Department.
[29]↩︎
For example, Ruth Lybbert Renlund practiced law and was the president of the law firm Dewsnup, King & Olsen.
Susan Gong taught advanced composition and Chinese at BYU.
Prior to marrying Russell M. Nelson, Wendy Watson Nelson was a professor of marriage and family therapy at BYU.
Prior to marrying Dallin H. Oaks, Kristen McMain Oaks was an educational consultant for a large publisher of K-12 books.
[30]↩︎
Spencer W. Kimball taught,
Some women, because of circumstances beyond their control, must work. We understand that. We understand further that as families are raised, the talents God has given you and blessed you with can often be put to effective use in additional service to mankind. Do not, however, make the mistake of being drawn off into secondary tasks which will cause the neglect of your eternal assignments such as giving birth to and rearing the spirit children of our Father in Heaven.
Elsewhere, he said, "Women are to take care of the family—the Lord has so stated—to be an assistant to the husband, to work with him, but not to earn the living, except in unusual circumstances."
Kimball acknowledged "that through circumstances beyond their control, some mothers are faced with the added responsibility of earning a living." However, he said that he was still bound "to hold up the ideal of the Latter-day Saint family."
[31]↩︎
Ezra Taft Benson taught,
We realize also that some of our choice sisters are widowed and divorced and that others find themselves in unusual circumstances where, out of necessity, they are required to work for a period of time. But these instances are the exception, not the rule.
Elsewhere, Benson called it "propaganda" and a "misguided idea that a woman should leave the home, where there is a husband and children, to prepare educationally and financially for an unforeseen eventuality."
Richard G. Scott similarly counseled husbands not to "encourage your wife to go to work to help in your divinely appointed responsibility of providing resources for the family. . . .work together to keep Mother in the home."
[32]↩︎
Economist Claudia Goldin found that "children are the main contributors to women’s labor supply changes." She also noted that, overall, children are "the main contributor to the lesser job experience, greater career discontinuity, and shorter work hours for" women.
- American Economic Review study finds that the gender wage gap is largely due to hours worked.
- American Economic Journal: Applied Economics study finds that male MBAs work more hours than female MBAs.
[33]↩︎
Dartmouth's Charles Wheelan has referred to the "statistical discrimination" against women in general (not specifically Latter-day Saint women) due to them "still bear[ing] the bulk of child-rearing responsibilities."
He added:
Demographics suggest that both [men and women] are likely to start families in the near future. Yet only the female candidate will take paid maternity leave. More important, she may not return to work after having the child, which leaves the firm with the cost of finding, hiring, and training another [employee]. . . . The female candidate is punished because the firm has no information on her specific circumstances but good data on broad social trends.
USU professor Susan Madsen has also provided some anecdotal evidence that supports Wheelan's analysis.
- Charles Wheelan explains the economic incentives and rationale behind gender discrimination.
- Susan R. Madsen argues that the gender wage gap in Utah is real; shares anecdotes from women who were discriminated against.
[34]↩︎
A 2013 Pew Research report found:
American parents with children under age 18 find 62% of their child-care experiences “very meaningful,” compared with 36% of paid work-related activities.
Various studies have found that parents (especially child-centric parents) derive greater meaning and well-being from taking care of their children.
[35]↩︎
According to Gallup data, over half (54%) of stay-at-home moms with children under eighteen said that their desire to stay home with their children is a "major reason" for not working. Furthermore, over half (54%) of working mothers said they would rather stay home. Of those working mothers who were unemployed at the time of the survey, 57% said they would prefer to stay home.
Wendy Wang, director of research at the Institute for Family Studies, has found that the data suggests that breadwinning wives and mothers have less satisfying family lives on average.
- Gallup data indicates that most working mothers would prefer to stay home with their children.
- Wendy Wang analyzes data that show breadwinning mothers/wives have lower family satisfaction.
[36]↩︎
Theologically, the Church has affirmed that men and women are meant to be "equal partners" in their "sacred responsibilities" as "mothers and fathers."
A 1978 First Presidency statement relayed that "we recognize men and women as equally important before the Lord and the law."
- Text of "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" issued by the Church (September 1995).
- First Presidency in 1978 reaffirms opposition to ERA.
[37]↩︎
Seraph Young, the granddaughter of Brigham Young, was the one to cast the ballot.
In the book Thinking Women: A Timeline of Suffrage in Utah, scholars Katherine Kitterman and Rebekah Ryan Clark explained,
Wyoming Territory had passed women's suffrage in December 1869, so Utah Territory became the second in the nation to extend equal voting rights to women. Since Utah held both municipal and general elections before Wyoming's next election, Utah women gained the distinction of voting first. They exercised their newfound right in large numbers.
- News report of Seraph Young and other women voting in 1870 Utah election.
- Katherine Kitterman and Rebekah Ryan Clark summarize the history of Utah women's suffrage.
[38]↩︎
At an 1870 protest that eventually led to women's suffrage in Utah, Eliza R. Snow stated:
Were we the stupid, degraded, heartbroken beings that we have been represented, silence might better become us; but, as women of God,—women filling high and responsible positions—performing sacred duties—women who stand not as dictators, but as counselors to their husbands, and who, in the purest, noblest sense of refined womanhood, being truly their helpmates; we not only speak because we have the right, but justice and humanity demand that we should.
- Eliza R. Snow affirms women's positions in Utah at an 1870 protest meeting.
- Katherine Kitterman and Rebekah Ryan Clark summarize the history of Utah women's suffrage.
[39]↩︎
The Church-owned Deseret Evening News voiced support for women's suffrage on several occasions. Apostle George Q. Cannon was the editor at the time. Apostle Orson Pratt was the Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives when the suffrage bill in Utah was passed.
[40]↩︎
In 1869, Brigham Young taught,
As I have often told my sisters in the Female Relief societies, we have sisters here who, if they had the privilege of studying, would make just as good mathematicians or accountants as any man; and we think they ought to have the privilege to study these branches of knowledge that they may develop the powers with which they are endowed. We believe that women are useful not only to sweep houses, wash dishes, make beds, and raise babies, but that they should stand behind the counter, study law or physic, or become good book-keepers and be able to do the business in any counting house, and this to enlarge their sphere of usefulness for the benefit of society at large.
More recently, Gordon B. Hinckley encouraged the young women of the Church to "get all of the education you can. We live in a highly competitive age, and it will only grow worse. Education is the key that will unlock the door of opportunity."
Thomas S. Monson also told the Relief Society that "secular learning is. . . .essential. . . . I urge you to pursue your education. . . .Your talents will expand as you study and learn. You will be able to better assist your families in their learning, and you will have peace of mind in knowing that you have prepared yourself for the eventualities that you may encounter in life."
[41]↩︎
One newspaper reported,
THE University of Deseret, in Salt Lake City, contains 223 students, of whom 120 are males and 103 females.
- Crawfordsville Journal reports that nearly half the students at the University of Deseret in 1869 are women.
[42]↩︎
Between 1869 and 1870, only 14.7% of all bachelor's degrees in the United States were awarded to women. Zero percent of master's and doctoral degrees were awarded to women.
According to historian Chris Rigby Arrington,
The last quarter of the nineteenth century found Utah with a greater percentage of its women studying medicine than any other state or territory.
- National Center for Education Statistics shows that 14.7% of bachelor's degree recipients in the U.S. in 1869-70 were female.
- Chris Rigby Arrington explains that Utah had more women studying medicine than any other state/territory in the late 19th century.
[43]↩︎
In the statement, the First Presidency noted worries that the amendment's "deceptively simple language," "vagueness," and "sweeping generalizations" could lead to a "train of unnatural consequences" and "nullify many accumulated benefits to women in present statutes."
The statement concluded:
We express confidence that this nation is sufficiently strong and fair to be able to resolve problems of inequality and unfairness to women, or any other group in our society, without abusing the amending process of our most basic document, the Constitution, as outlined above, and without undermining our most basic institution, the family.
- First Presidency in 1978 reaffirms opposition to ERA.
[44]↩︎
As reported in the Salt Lake Tribune, the spokesman said, “The church’s position on this issue has been consistent for more than 40 years.”
- Church spokesman states that the Church opposes recent ERA proposal.
[45]↩︎
A 2020 report by the Utah Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights recommended legislation to eliminate pay secrecy, raise the minimum wage, restrict certain forms of application screening, and require race/gender-related data collection, among other reforms.
Oddly enough, economist Thomas Leonard has shown that the minimum wage was historically used to crowd out women from the labor force in order to protect men from competition.
- Utah report provides overview of gender wage gap in Utah along with recommendations for closing it.
- Thomas C. Leonard provides the history of how the minimum wage was used to crowd out women from the labor force.
[46]↩︎
Surprisingly, greater gender equality overall has been found to correlate with greater gender inequality in STEM field participants. According to a 2018 study in Psychological Science,
countries with lower levels of gender equality had relatively more women among STEM graduates than did more gender-equal countries. This is a paradox, because gender-equal countries are those that give girls and women more educational and empowerment opportunities and that generally promote girls’ and women’s engagement in STEM fields (e.g., Williams & Ceci, 2015).
Similarly, numerous studies have found that greater gender equality overall correlates with greater gender differences in preferences and personality traits.
[47]↩︎
In 2021, the UWLP recommended implementing a stand-alone equal pay act, raising the minimum wage, and encouraging women to complete postsecondary certificates and degrees. It also recommended the women be provided career and education planning resources and providing professional development opportunities.
Oddly enough, economist Thomas Leonard has shown that the minimum wage was historically used to crowd women out of the labor force in order to protect men from competition.
[48]↩︎
Claims on Utah's gender pay gap are currently based on limited data. To gather more data, the UWLP has suggested a statewide study focused on the "causes and effects" of the pay gap.
- Utah State university white paper recommends policies to address the gender wage gap in Utah.
[49]↩︎
The effectiveness of these recommendations will be up for debate. For example, a 2017 study in the Journal of Economic Literature found
no indication of a notable improvement in women’s relative earnings in the immediate post-1964 period that might be attributable to the effects of the government’s antidiscrimination effort. . . .[I]t is puzzling that the largest female relative-wage gains and the strongest evidence of a decline in the unexplained gender wage gap were during the 1980s. . . .which includes a period in which the government’s antidiscrimination effort was noticeably scaled back.
- Journal of Economic Literature study finds that government antidiscrimination efforts did not reduce the gender pay gap; gender differences in occupation and and industries biggest reason for gap.