美国《同工同酬法》（Equal Pay Act）已有54年，然而女性仍在争取平等待遇。联邦政府数据显示，这些年来女性薪酬提升是有进步，如今以美元计男女平均薪资比例为1：0.82，《同工同酬法》生效的1963年，比例为1：0.54。按这个增长速度，至少还要70年，美国男女薪酬才能实现平等。

4月4日是美国的同工同酬日，纪念这个日子体现出即便到了2017年，美国女性仍然要非常努力争取跟男性平等的薪酬待遇。我们也该借机思索，为何当今社会已如此发达还要讨论男女收入差距的问题。美国宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿商学院养老金研究理事会执行理事奥利维亚·米切尔指出，造成男女难以同工同酬的原因有很多，其中有三大主因，分别是育儿损失、缺乏劳资谈判技巧以及雇主偏见。

·育儿损失

研究显示，生育后很多职场女性的工作都受到负面影响。在雇主眼中，初为人母的女员工往往能力不及男员工和未育的女员工，对工作的投入度也不够。新母亲面对的职业要求更高，而被聘用和晋升的几率却更低。一项研究称，已生育女性和未育女性的薪酬差距可能比男女薪酬差距还大。米切尔表示一些职业女性生育后会请假，她指出：“做家庭主妇存在机会成本。无法工作的时间都是损失。”

约39%的职场母亲表示，生育后要牺牲“大量”工作时间，通常会导致其平均收入比未育女性少7%。马萨诸塞大学安姆斯特分校（the University of Massachusetts, Amherst）的一位社会学教授发现，每生一个孩子，低收入女性就会因为牺牲工时而减少高达15%的收入。生育对男性的影响却正好相反，初为人父的男性收入一般都会增加。

米切尔强调，为降低育儿损失，政府提供给予补贴的日托服务很重要，瑞典就有类似的例子。（值得一提的是，瑞典的父母在孩子出生后可以休长达480天的产假，同时享有额外的税收优惠，作为育儿成本的补贴。）米切尔说：“收费亲民、质量过硬的日托至关重要。这才是真正能减少育儿损失的措施。”

·不擅劳资谈判

米切尔认为，缩小男女薪酬差距“也需要女性更主动谈判争取福利待遇。”她还说：“谈判讲求用合适的方式要求合理待遇。”研究显示，女性与雇主谈加薪的可能性比男性低，主要因为信心不足或缺乏指导。而《哈佛商业周刊》的一篇文章指出，问题的关键可能是女性担心谈判的后果，跟谈判的信心或者技巧关系不大。这类现象被称为谈判的“社会成本”。

例如跟雇主谈薪酬问题时女性比男性更犹豫，因为女性要求加薪时可能会觉得尴尬，场面不好看。而犹豫可能代价巨大：2008年的一项研究发现，假如美国职业女性在做第一份工作的时候跟雇主谈的薪水不合理，到了60岁累计损失可能会达到50万美元。

女性怎样才能提高谈判水平？米切尔建议参加学习班。美国谈判培训机构Negotiation Training Institute在全美都开有面向公众的培训班。哈佛商学院旗下的谈判教育机构Negotiation Institute也设有相关课程，但要收费。为期两天的课程学费3000美元。

·雇主偏见

米切尔认为，雇主的偏见也是女性收入低的一个原因。她说，不管雇主有意还是无意偏见，结果都是“女性绩效不高，薪水低于实际工作能力。”换言之，雇主可能无形中低估了女员工的业务能力。

雇主点评网站Glassdoor最近的一项研究发现，即便工作经历和教育背景完全相同，在同一家公司工作，同样职位的女性员工平均薪资也低于男性。研究者发现，尽管假设前提条件均等，美国联邦政府的法律也要求男女同工同酬，男性的基本工资还是比女性高5.4%，薪资总收入高出7.4%。另一篇研究文章指出，薪酬差异可能反映出，职场普遍存在对女性的偏见，而且雇主普遍低估女性的绩效。

纠正雇主的偏见谈何容易。在女性的能力及应获得的机会方面，雇主根深蒂固的成见是性别歧视的根源，也持续存在于很多社会问题中，比如薪酬差距、职业隔离和女性很难晋升领导层等。

除了以上三大原因，男女薪酬差距还受其他因素影响，包括男女教育差异，以及低收入岗位往往女性从业者偏多等。

米切尔称，虽然男女薪酬的鸿沟正在逐步缩小，主要因为女性受教育水平提高，男性的薪资增长停滞。但过去十年，两性薪资差距收窄的速度持续放缓。现实仍然严峻。

“（薪资差距缩小的）步子减缓令人担心，”米切尔说，“我们要继续呼吁，争取女性在职场的合理待遇。”

编辑注：以上为修正后内容。本文最初将目前以美元计价美国的男女收入比表述为1：0.79，现已修改为1：0.82。（财富中文网）

译者：Pessy

审稿：夏林

It's been 54 years since the Equal Pay Act became law, but American women are still fighting to make as much money as men. Though women have made strides — they now make an average of 82 cents for every dollar a man earns, according to federal data, compared to 54 cents prior to the Equal Pay Act in 1963 — it could take at least 70 more years before the gap completely closes.

Tuesday, April 4 is Equal Pay Day—which represents how far into 2017 a woman must work in order to earn what a man did in the previous year. But it's also a moment to look at why we're still talking about the gender pay gap in the first place. There are many reasons the gap is so hard to close, according to Olivia Mitchell, the director of the pension research council at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Three of the most significant contributors, she says, are the penalty women face for becoming mothers, women's lack of negotiating skills and the bias women face from employers.

The Motherhood Penalty

Research shows that many mothers suffer workplace-related consequences after having a child. When compared with men and childless women, new moms are often perceived to have lower competence and commitment, and they face higher professional expectations and a lower chance of hiring and promotion. According to one study, the pay gap between mothers and women who aren't mothers could actually be even bigger than the one between men and women. "There's an opportunity cost of staying home," Mitchell says, referring to women who take time off after their child is born. "Time out of the labor force is a penalty."

About 39% of mothers say they have taken "significant" time off work after having a child—a decision that usually results in those mothers earning an average of 7% less per child compared to childless women. One sociology professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst found that the penalty can actually reach up to 15% per child among low-wage workers. As for men, the opposite is true. New fathers typically see an earnings bump after their child is born.

To combat the motherhood penalty, Mitchell emphasized the importance of subsidized daycares—much like the ones in Sweden. (Also worth noting: Parents there are entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave after a child is born, as well as extra tax credits to cover child-rearing costs). "Access to affordable, good quality day care is critical," she says. "That's what it's really going to take."

Negotiation

Closing the gender pay gap "also takes women doing more negotiation for what they want," Mitchell says, adding that "it's all in the art of asking the right way." Research shows that women are less likely to negotiate their salary than men—and a lack of confidence or guidance is sometimes to blame. But as one Harvard Business Review article notes, the problem may have more to do with how women are treated when they negotiate, rather than their general confidence or skills at negotiation—a phenomenon that has been dubbed the "social cost" of negotiation.

For example, women may be more hesitant to negotiate their salary than men because advocating for higher pay could present a socially awkward or difficult situation. But that hesitation could be costly: One 2008 study found that failing to negotiate a first salary could could result in a $500,000 loss by age 60.

As for what women can do to improve their negotiation skills? Mitchell suggests taking a class. The Negotiation Training Institute has programs across the U.S. that are open to the general public. Harvard Law School also offers courses through its Negotiation Institute, but at a price: A two-day course is $3,000.

Employer Bias

According to Mitchell, employer bias is also at blame for women's lower salaries. This bias—whether conscious or not—results in "not rating women as highly, and not paying them their due," she says. In other words, employers may unknowingly undervalue the work their female employees do.

A recent Glassdoor study found that even when men and women with similar work experience and education levels were working at the same company with the exact same job title, women, on average, were still paid less. Despite the assumption things would be equal, and despite federal law requiring men and women to be paid the same for equal work, researchers found that men made 5.4% more in base pay than female counterparts, and 7.4% more in overall compensation. As another article notes, this pay discrepancy may be a result of extensive bias against women in the workplace, combined with the general undervaluation of women's work.

Employer bias won't be easy to fix. Negative, deeply rooted stereotypes about women's abilities and opportunities are at the root of gender discrimination, perpetuating societal issues like pay disparity, occupational segregation and fewer leadership opportunities.

And there are other causes of the gender pay gap beyond the three above—including an education disparity between men and women, as well as women typically being overrepresented in lower-paying fields.

Adding to the challenges, while the wage gap is gradually narrowing—thanks in part to women's progress in education and stagnation in men's wages—the pace of that narrowing has slowed over the past decade, Mitchell says.

"People are concerned things have slowed down," she says. "We need to continue the pressure to integrate women into the workplace."

Editor’s note: This story has been corrected. It originally stated that women make 79 cents for every dollar a man earns. The correct statistic is 82 cents for every dollar a man earns.