Mental health issues are of enormous importance in our world today (970 million worldwide have a MH disorder), yet some factors that contribute to this are ignored in favor of status-quo thinking or discrimination.
Research shows that the difference in pay between men and women may have a major impact on women’s mental health. Even after accounting for criteria like age, education, and career, women who earn much less than men are more likely to experience anxiety and sadness.
According to a recent Columbia University study, women experience sadness and anxiety at higher rates than males, which may be related to the gender wage disparity. When women see discrimination based on their gender, like the difference in pay between men and women, their risk of depression may go up.
Compared to men, women of color experience a bigger pay gap, which increases their stress, anxiety, despair, and poverty levels. Feelings of irritation, resentment, and low self-worth are among the detrimental effects of unequal compensation on mental health. How could it be any different when you see them devaluing your work against the work of others? Are these workers second-class citizens?
When women face discrimination in the gender pay gap, they may also have less education (or fewer opportunities for education), lower wages, fewer chances to lead, more caregiving responsibilities, and higher rates of domestic violence, all of which can hurt their mental health. Overall, the gender wage gap can be terrible for women’s mental health, so closing it is an important step toward achieving gender equality and improving women’s health.
I remember a time when colleges wouldn’t accept female applicants, which made women less likely to go to college. Why do you suppose Columbia University has Barnard College? Most of the major Ivy League schools wouldn’t accept women. Think Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Brown.
We can address the gender pay gap in a number of ways. Promoting pay transparency, which means making pay information public and ensuring companies explain pay differences, is one way to deal with this problem. Making sure that women are paid fairly and exposing and addressing pay inequality is a start. Promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace is another way to combat biases and advance women in industries that are dominated by men.
We can also address the salary gap by implementing policy changes. Paid family leave laws can be put in place to lessen the motherhood penalty and making sure that women are not punished for taking time off to care for their families.
Employed caregivers are penalized in the current situation. Do we still love those who are elderly, sick, or young and need our help? The question goes without a need to respond.
