Gender gap myth: Where's the evidence workers in more dangerous professions are paid more than others?

Question

Check out this FAQ about gender gap pay myths:

http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/what-is-the-gender-gap/

I hear often in this forum that women are not willing to be employed in dangerous professions-which supposedly contributes to the gender wage gap. But where's the evidence that workers in more dangerous professions are paid more than others (in less dangerous professions)?

Answer 1

You will find that there is such a thing as danger pay, even Garbo's get it. It's just that in the past it was viewed that women didn't have the physicality to do these types of jobs, now a days machines do most of these jobs anyway. Most of these jobs are still viewed as unpleasant then so not something a women would want to do.

Answer 2

The miners here are paid danger pay.  The army here also gets danger pay.  What I find awful is that none of the emergency services are paid in accordance to this.  Surely theirs is one of the more dangerous jobs?  Why are they paid little more than a manager at McDonalds?

Answer 3

Your initial question addresses dangerous professions, and I do not think worker gender makes any difference, when it comes to doing a difficult job.

To address your secondary concern:

Processing of animals into food products is horrible work.  It ls also cruel and inhumane.  There needs to be regulations regarding both worker safety and humane practices for the animals.  I could NOT, for any amount of money engage in killing animals.

To address your INITIAL concern:

One day, my husband called me out to look at electrical workers climbing up a big, double tower on a nearby ranch, that carries current from a nuclear generation plant, to the inland valley.

We watched as the guys climbed, hauling up tools, etc., no safety straps or rigging, just climbing up, several hundred feet to the very top.  A helicopter came by and they received parts, which they installed. (I held my breath, just watching them!)  Later, the helicopter came by, dropped a ladder, and these guys climbed the ladder and STOOD ON THE RUNNERS OF THE HELICOPTER as it flew off!!!

By God, you couldn't get ME to do that for any amount of money.

My husband found out these guys make $175.00 per hour.  

NOT NEAR ENOUGH!!

Sorry, I am a feminist, ran a welding equipment for 25 years, but I will stick to accounting, if the choice is high tension wire work or doing the books!!

My hat is off to anyone who can do THAT!!!! (I have vertigo.)

Answer 4

you hit the nail on the head.

professions that are deemed "women's work" are the jobs that pay less. this is where the real wage gap lies. we need to change stereotypes on what is work for women and what is work for men. we also need to stop rewarding men for providing for their families and belittling women when they attempt to do the same.

EDIT: BARBARIC: why don't you try actually being qualified and quit attempting to blame women for your own shortcomings? that's pretty weak, but typical of people like you.

Answer 5

has anyone every compiled the average wage rate for 15 yeaar olds and compared it to 30 year olds

SHOCK SHOCK HORROR HORROR!!!

there will be a massive discrepency, is it blatant ageism, those agesit 30 year olds d**n it! no theres obvious reasons why 30 year olds on AVERAGE get paid more.

think about it, if women got paid less for THE SAME job and same work then no FOOL ON EARTH would ever hire a man when a woman can do the same job for less

truth is there are other variables to the gender gap which have nothing to do with sexism.

and btw, i was just wondering what do you think about the gender gap in job selction where 25 of most dangerous jobs identified are overwhelmiingly male, life expectancy where women outlive men by 7 years yet women receive EIGHT times as much spending on health (bizzare!!) and there is no mens health minister or mens minister for that matter when there is for women.

and what is your explanation for the education gaps etc

Answer 6

The writer observes:

“I doubt that anyone believes that agricultural labourers are paid a risk premium despite experiencing more than twice the risk of fatality of construction workers, do they? So, there’s obviously more going on in how well remunerated some professions are than just the perception of bodily risk and hard, dirty work.”

And she is absolutely correct, and the evidence is in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics own research findings:

“Killing animals is inherently dangerous work, but the fast line speeds, dirty killing floors, and lack of training make animal-processing plants some of the most dangerous places to work in America today. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly one in three slaughterhouse workers suffers from illness or injury every year, compared to one in 10 workers in other manufacturing jobs.1 The rate of repetitive stress injury for slaughterhouse employees is 35 times higher than it is for those with other manufacturing jobs.2

The industry has refused to do what would be necessary to create safe working conditions for its employees, such as slowing down the lines or buying appropriate safety gear, because these changes could cut into companies’ bottom lines. In its 175-page exposé on worker exploitation by the farmed-animal industry titled “Blood, Sweat, and Fear: Workers’ Rights in U.S. Meat and Poultry Plants,” Human Rights Watch explains, “These are not occasional lapses by employers paying insufficient attention to modern human resources management policies. These are systematic human rights violations embedded in meat and poultry industry employment.”3

The farmed-animal industry often lures immigrants far away from their homes with false promises of good jobs—one meat company even bussed workers from the Mexican border to a homeless shelter in Minnesota!6 In some slaughterhouses, two-thirds of the workers are immigrants who cannot speak English, and according to the former safety director for ConAgra, “[I]n some plants, maybe a third of the people cannot read or write in any language.”7 Factory farms and slaughterhouses set up shop in the poorest regions of the United States because they know that they can use poor and uneducated people in these areas to do their dirty work for low wages. The farmed-animal industry has also been condemned for exploiting children—kids in their early teens have even died while working in animal-processing plants…”.

Not very glamourous work is it?

No Americans even want to do it!

Too dangerous, too poorly paid.

Please see

“Killing for a Living: How the Meat Industry Exploits Workers”

http://www.goveg.com/workerRights.asp

and  ÃƒÂ¢Ã‚€ÂœBLOOD, SWEAT, AND FEAR

Workers’ Rights in U.S. Meat and Poultry Plants”

http://www.goveg.com/workerRights.asp

*Note also that blue-collar workers and those in the trades are more likely to be unionized than Pink Collar Ghetto workers.

Answer 7

The wage gap can also be contributed to jobs that are considered corporate as well. There are times that men are able to negotiate a higher salary than that of a woman, due to that fact that most women don’t know their worth. They assume they’re worth a certain amount based on what they’ve heard someone else say, or what they may have read on line, instead of researching how much an employer is willing to pay a woman based on her certifications, degree’s, and experience. We at times sell ourselves short because we’re too afraid to negotiate a salary that is befitting to our qualifications, because we don’t want to anger or scare away a potential employer. While negotiating my salary, I did ask for more then most women who interviewed with my company. But I still didn’t receive as much as some of the men who work with me, because I had no idea (at the time) what the average pay range for any employer in my office were.  I didn’t want to seem greedy and needy, so I too sold myself under what I’m actually worth. Luckily my company gives annual raises for those who perform well on the job. I received my first pay raise after six months of working with the company. And a bonus, (the first in my division I must add) so I was really excited about that.

Now as far as the dangerous professions are concerned I’m not really sure about that. Most of the dangerous professions like police, firefighters, EMT, search and rescue that I know of don’t really pay much annual. I know in D.C. is about 30K to 45K annually. This is not much for that area for anyone to live on. But they do offer certain perks like benefits packages that are tailored to that specific job, discounts at some apartment complexes or on home mortgages. And some times certain items of purchase. But I don’t think they make much, no matter what their s*x is. And I think everyone in these professions receive the same base pay across the board based on the years of training and experience you have within that organization. Sort of like the military does, in order to keep the pay scale fare and balance.