The Gender Pay Gap and What You Can Do About It

Do you want to wait until 2186 to balance the gender pay gap? Didn’t think so. Check out this Fox 4 News interview to see how you can be proactive in combating wage discrimination.

Cathy DeWitt Dunn joins Jenny Anchondo on Fox 4 News to discuss the gender pay gap and what you can do about it.

The Gender Pay Gap Interview Transcript

Jenny Ancondo: According to the World Economic Forum, pay equity, meaning what women make in comparison to men for the same jobs, still might be 170 years away for women. So, Financial Advisor, Cathy Dewitt Dunn is here with tips for women who don’t wanna wait that long. Good morning, Cathy.

Cathy DeWitt Dunn: Good morning. That’s a long time, right?

Jenny Ancondo: Right. So we’re waiting until 2186 to have sort of an even playing field here, according to that one study.

Cathy DeWitt Dunn: Yeah, but we don’t have to wait that long. We can do some things to be proactive.

Jenny: So we’re ranked 73rd in the world among 144 different countries. I mean, we’re talking behind Norway, behind Rwanda, behind Sweden. Let’s talk about action items, what people can do to help with this and to be paid fairly for the same work.

Cathy: Yeah, that’s a great question. I think one of the biggest challenges is, women are afraid to ask for a raise. Take a look at what you’re doing for your company and maybe what the pay grade is at some other firms, and go in and take an action and say, “I need to have a pay increase.” It’s interesting that in 2015, 57% of workers did not ask for a pay raise, but 75% of those that asked for it, received it.

Jenny: No kidding!

Cathy: No kidding. That’s according to PayScale. Isn’t that an amazing statistic?

Jenny: So for 75% of people, all they had to do was ask. And perhaps this is a habit that women might be less likely to engage in, in terms of asking for that raise.

Cathy: Absolutely. You know, and if you go in and you ask for the raise and they decline, maybe you need to take some action and find another position, another career, another opportunity to make some money.

Jenny: Right, so you’re saying, “Go ahead and change jobs if this isn’t working.”

Cathy: Yeah. And one of the things that women need to be careful of is, every time, when you go to look for a position, women feel that they have to be 100% qualified before they apply, whereas men feel like, “Oh, well, I have 60% of those qualifications. I’ll go ahead and apply.” And that’s according to Harvard Business Review. So if you feel that you could possibly achieve that position, go ahead and apply. The men do.

Jenny: That’s interesting.

Cathy: Yes.

Jenny: And when you say, you know, “Change jobs or ask for a raise,” that sort of thing, it’s also really important to be informed and educated on what others in the same market place are making.

Cathy: Absolutely, and I think one of the challenges, too, that women need to be aware of is that you need to be saving also for retirement when all this is going on, because later down the road, 75% of us are going to be widowers. So, I mean, there’s a lot of things that you need to take into consideration.

Jenny: So it’s not just the pay today, it’s down the road. And these types of things can affect credit, right? So if you’re starting out with a smaller income and earning a smaller income all the way throughout, and there are other impacts, as well?

Cathy: Yeah, absolutely. And those are some of the things that you need to be aware of. So if you can increase your pay, you probably can get a higher credit score. You’ll have access to additional credit, so then you can maybe get a loan for a mortgage on a home or a loan on a car. There’s all kinds of different things that you should really be looking at.

Jenny: Something else that you’ve mentioned is, and I know you’ve blogged about this as well, is the so called pink tax, and that relates to women paying more for the same product. Tell me what you mean by that.

Cathy: Yeah, that’s a great way to think about saving money. All the packaging and all the items, if you go into the store… I think, many years ago, we did a segment together. If it’s packaged in pink, you’re gonna be paying more, and that means it’s for female-related items. Just on razors, you can save 53% by just buying the razors that are on the aisle for the men. So all of these things are the same exact products, sometimes by the same manufacturer, and you can save a lot of money right there.

Jenny: Here’s what I learned. We ask for a raise, you find out what you should be making, and then you buy the men’s products. Okay.

Cathy: Right, exactly.

Jenny: Cathy Dewitt Dunn, thank you so much. Appreciate the time and the advice. You can find out more on her website from our website. We’ll have a link to it on fox4news.com.