The problem, why it exists and how we can fix it in Erie County.

Women working in Erie County generally earn 65.9 percent of what their male counterparts make, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's latest American Community Survey.

That's lower than the national median, which is 72.8 percent.

The numbers are from the five-year estimates that were released in December and include data collected from 2013 to 2017. They include wages for full-time and part-time workers.

The census data is broken into 36 separate job types, which range from management, business and science occupations to natural resources, construction and maintenance occupations.

Out of the 36 fields, Erie County women earn more than men in just six: computer and mathematical occupations; life, physical and social science occupations; health technologists and technicians; healthcare support occupations; office and administrative support occupations; and installation, maintenance and repair occupations.

Women trail in legal occupations; transportation occupations; farming, fishing and forestry occupations; sales and related occupations, and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations.

The data for some groups might be misleading, though, based on each category's makeup. For the field called installation, maintenance and repair occupations in Erie County, the industry is made up of 3,405 men and 23 women and it's reported that women make 115.5 percent of what men earn, indicating females in this category are in management positions or own businesses in the area.

The data illustrated the largest gender pay gap in Erie County exists in the category labeled legal occupations, where women's median earnings were recorded at $39,113 and men's at $155,583, despite the field being fairly evenly made up of 423 men and 390 women. This means women make 25.1 percent of what men make in Erie County, according to the data. The industry runs the gamut of legal careers and includes lawyers, judicial law clerks, judges, magistrates, paralegals, legal assistants and legal support and judicial workers, according to census definitions.

A gender pay gap is nothing new nationally or in Erie County.

The earnings discrepancy can be traced to an era when women first started breaking into the workforce: wartime. In 1944, skilled female workers made an average weekly wage of $31.21 while skilled male workers earned $54.65 weekly, according to Susan M. Hartmann's book, "The Home Front and Beyond: American Women in the 1940s."

Gender earnings discrepancies can also be attributed to societal norms, expectations and responsibilities, Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper said. Women traditionally take leave to have children, raise families or care for elderly parents, she added.

"A lot of the time women are thought of as nurturing so the responsibility of childcare and even caring for an elderly or sick person falls on us," she said. "So often times we step out of the workplace for a bit and it causes us to lose some ground."

Christine McClure, shareholder and director at Knox McLaughlin Gornall & Sennett, P.C., and also one of the first female lawyers to practice in northwestern Pennsylvania, has been seeing this for 40 years in the legal field.

"Women take off time to have families and do things of that nature and that does create a disparity naturally," she said. "The field can be demanding and ask a lot out of both males and females."

As a result, young female lawyers are taking a different approach in the legal field to accommodate, which might explain some of the discrepancies in wages, McClure said.

"There is a movement for women to move away from bigger law firms and going out and starting their own law firms — their own little area or boutique practices where they can kind of create their own destinies and their own work-life balance," she said.

Aurora Hardin, an associate at Knox McLaughlin Gornall & Sennett, P.C., who graduated from law school in 2018, agreed. She said some of her classmates aimed to become "in-house counsel" after practicing law for a year, meaning they would practice law specifically for a business.

"(They want it) because of the predictability and the work-life balance it provides," Hardin said. "And the salaries for female lawyers as in-house counsel are just different than when you work for a firm."

How do we fix it?



The good news is that hiring practices, pay and promotions are being monitored by Erie-area companies.

For instance, Erie County's largest employer, Erie Insurance, monitors its hiring processes for any type of bias, according to an emailed statement.

"Our compensation practices are reviewed regularly to ensure they are fair and in compliance. Individual compensation is aligned to job role and classification, as well as the employee's credentials, education and level of experience," said Sean Dugan, vice president, corporate human resources officer for Erie Insurance.

Dahlkemper said more women need to be in management and leadership positions to equalize wages.

"There are way too many times when I'm sitting at a decision table and I'm the only woman there," she said. "I'm working hard to try and change that."

Dahlkemper said encouraging and teaching women to ask for raises and promotions is part of the solution. That requires Erie County women to mentor and educate one another, she added.

This isn't just an issue about wages. Inevitably lower wages will affect women throughout their lives, she added.

"This is an issue that affects women all of their lives. It affects our Social Security. It affects their pensions if we have one," she said. "So, the ramifications aren't just about today's paycheck. They're about our entire lives until the day we die."

Sarah Grabski can be reached at 870-1776 or by email. Follow her on twitter at www.twitter.com/ETNgrabski.

A workplace breakdown: Erie County's men and women

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