MarketWatch: Here’s one way for women to stay out of poverty
By Jillian Berman
Extensive research has shown that women on average make less than men. But the reasons why and the path toward pay equity are much murkier. The study from the Washington-based nonprofit, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research outlines one possible route to at least putting a dent in the gender pay gap: Getting more women into traditionally male-dominated careers that don’t require a college degree and pay a living wage.
The research notes that women make up just 36% of workers in middle-skill jobs that pay at least $35,000 a year and just 27% of workers in growing middle-skill jobs. But women account for 83% of workers in middle-skill jobs that pay $30,000 or less a year.
[…]
“For women to climb out of poverty wages, you really need to get to college, or at least have some college courses and a lot of the jobs in manufacturing or transportation at the moment, you need less,” said Ariane Hegewisch, the employment and earnings program director at IWPR and one of the authors of the report. “You don’t need to make major investments into college education to get to a decent income,” in those fields.