Striving for equal pay is hugely relevant and mostly achievable

The adoption of a resolution proclaiming September 18 as International Equal Pay Day added official voice to widespread concern over slow progress in women’s economic empowerment, the undervaluing of work traditionally held by women, and the difficulties in tackling pay inequality.

The list of the issues then at stake was long and complicated, involving different types of work, and it is difficult to realise the set goals – for instance, equal pay for domestic work and bona fide job, if you will.

Equal Pay Day is a symbolic event dedicated to raising awareness on the gender pay gap.

This would look somewhat surprising in most societies which don’t usually compare what they pay mothers or even grandmothers who enable many households to stand.

These usually see what these particular people do merely as a role that is tied to reproduction and to responsibility as keepers of households.

If we look at the Equal Pay Day issue simply in terms of employment outside the home, it is unlikely that there will be much to complain about in countries that have n ever had statutory discrimination on the work women can do, or the sort of pay they can get.

If anything, there are instances where some sort of privilege was created or an implicit right recognised, such as in the armed forces, where soldiers’ wives are often consulted in relation to some payments to their husbands.

It is viewed as some form of psychological safeguard meant to help in keeping order at the family level.

The West has usually tended to focus on equal pay as the most important issue, given the fact that there is nearly universal employment among those wishing to work.

But many other countries have mostly focused on empowering women, where the concern is more with their getting feasible means of income rather than what it compares with what men get.

Reports say that the global Covid-19 pandemic has seen women lose more job openings than men, while other marginal groups have also lost their position or openings in work. But the situation differs from one sector or country to another, with most people who live by seeking work forced to make adaptations on what they can do.

Chances are that the plight of women will be more challenging than obtained earlier and, in such situations, holding some families or households close together could prove especially tricky.

So, as the world reflects on equal pay between the genders, this developed societies’ matrix leaves much to be desired.

Many relatively educated youths have little that is identifiable as career paths, and this could ruin their ability to found families at an appropriate age so that they bring up children when still youthful.

When that stage of enthusiasm is gone, commitment fades. And what a tragedy that would mean!