Earlier this week was Equal Pay Day, an observance created to bring awareness to the chronic gap between men’s and women’s wages. As of 2019, women working full time earned 82.3 cents for every dollar a man made in the U.S.
So. Not. OK.
While I agree that the bulk of this gap is created by a chronic patriarchal belief that a woman’s work somehow isn’t as valuable as a man’s, I have to be blunt and say that part of it has to do with the beliefs that some women have around money.
🧐 It’s not polite to talk about money/ask for more money.
🧐 You get paid what your employer thinks your job performance is worth, so you won’t get any more if you ask
🧐 You don’t ‘deserve’ to be paid more than anyone in the same job as you
As a feminist, I don’t mean to imply in any way that these pay gap or our beliefs are our ‘fault’.
But I will say that it’s time for us to take a serious review of our beliefs around money, and commit to giving them a refresh. Let go of any negative thoughts around what people think of us when it comes to wanting and deserving more money.
Money doesn’t come to you if and only if you ‘deserve’ it. You don’t have to ‘work harder and smarter’ for it.
Money comes from providing value.
Drop any modesty when it comes to reminding people of the value you provide, and be bold when asking for the amount of money that reflects that value.
The next time you’re discussing salary with an employer, remind them of that value. Especially if their reply is among these tired, busted b.s. lines:
💩💨 “That’s that standard salary we aim for for someone in your pay grade”
💩💨 “We only have so much in the salary pool, so if you get paid more, then someone else gets less”
💩💨 “My hands are tied now. We’ll have to look into it again in the next budget year.”
If they refuse to budge, WALK. Go find another employer who doesn’t discriminate by paying you less because of your gender, who does understand your value, and who is willing to pay you for it.
It may take a lot of work to find another job, work that you may not want to do.
But you have to ask yourself which are you willing to experience: short-term discomfort of having to look for another job? Or, long-term discomfort knowing all of the work you do put in is undervalued and you are chronically underpaid for it?
Meaningful change doesn’t happen when we choose to avoid the work and discomfort needed to make it happen.
YOU. ARE. WORTH. EVERY. BIT. OF. IT.
If you need some help making that change happen for you, I’m here for you. I don’t just coach working moms on burnout and overwhelm – we cover all of the things that working moms face, including career and money goals.
Careers and money can have a huge emotional impact on your life and relationships. As your coach, I can help uncover any long-held beliefs you may have about either of them that may be holding you back, and help you create a new path to where you want to be.
Just reach out to get started.
P.S. – Still not convinced how important it is to be sure you’re paid what you’re worth? Check out this article from The Motley Fool that lays out the long-term effects of not getting paid what you’re worth: https://www.fool.com/research/women-in-investing-research/ Scroll down to the subheading “The gender pay gap”.