What would it mean if there weren’t a $10,622 wage gap?

For some, eliminating the wage gap would mean the difference between a living wage and living in poverty.  The highest poverty rates are for families headed by single women, especially if they are women of color.  That means a lot of children are growing up without basic needs being met and with fewer resources and options to support them to meet their full potential as healthy, productive citizens.  This has lasting impact on our communities.

For some, eliminating the wage gap would mean a few less obstacles to face between being trapped in an abusive relationship and getting out.  Women with children cannot just flee their batterers without a means of providing for their children.  Women who cannot financially support their children may actually lose their children to their abusers in custody battles, and batterers use threats to this effect to maintain power and control over their victims.  Escaping an abusive relationship is complex and requires adequate resources and support.  Economic self-sufficiency is one of those necessary resources.

Every woman who earns less than her male counterpart is losing income in the here and now as well as in the future.  That $10,622 per year might mean the difference between being able to afford a college education, a reliable car to get her to and from work, a home of her own, or medical insurance.  What people often do not recognize are the accumulative and domino effects of the lost wages.  A college education, reliable transportation, medical insurance, and many other resources can actually support increased earnings potential.  After a lifetime of earning $10,622 less per year than her male counterparts, a woman will have lost about $500,000 in earnings.  These losses are then translated into smaller retirement benefits for the remainder of her life.

What would it mean if there weren’t a $10,622 wage gap?  It would mean that we value equally the work and contributions of women and men.  It would mean that we recognize women as human beings who are worthy of being self-sufficient, of having options, of being autonomous.  It would mean that we as a society have decided to take one more step towards ending our abuse of our power over others and to more fully embrace the ideal of equality that we Americans so love to think we have already embraced.