Analysis of Comparable Worth and the Common Good

The Federal Government has been struggling for almost four decades now to close the gap between the wages of men and women. In the 1960's, women were paid approximately 60 cents for every dollar men received for their work. Although progress has been made since Congress passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, equality has not yet been achieved. Today, thirty-six years later, women still earn only seventy-six percent of the wages of men.

Early studies found convincing evidence that women were being construed as inferior when it came to their work. Jobs that were dominated by women were paid less than male-dominated jobs, not because they were intrinsically worth less, but because they were dominated by women (Treiman & Hartmann, 1981:93; Remick, 1984b; and Steinbert et al, 1986 as cited in Ames, 1995). Jobs labeled "feminine" were viewed as requiring less effort and ability than identical jobs given a "masculine" label in a study conducted by Taynor and Deaux in 1975. Similarly, Deaux and Emswiller found in 1974 that both men and women attributed successful women's performance less to effort and more to luck. What's more, Heilman (1979) and Touhey (1974) demonstrated that people tend to devalue the prestige and desirability of jobs that they were told would become female dominated in the future.

Comparable worth is a concept that takes a different approach to remedying these injustices. It may be thought of as a step beyond that of equal work. With "equal pay for equal work," jobs must be determined to be equal in all aspects, including content. "Comparable worth" on the other hand, refers to the notion of paying people equally according to the value, or "worth," of their work. It is distinguished from "equal work" in that it does ...

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