Vital signs for professional women (Women fare better financially if they belong to a union)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nysut.org/cps/rde/xchg/nysut/hs.xsl/newyorkteacher_8660.htm

Vital signs for professional women

AFL-CIO stats delineate the wage gap
New York Teacher - October 12, 2007


Women now make up nearly half the work force, and are expected to earn more than half of all postsecondary degrees this year. They still struggle with lesser wages than men. Working women's struggle with family care still festers. Women fare better financially if they belong to a union.

Using reports from the U.S. Labor Department and other national agencies, a new AFL-CIO report reveals vital statistics for professional women.

Much has changed in just a generation. Many of today's working women grew up with mothers who stayed at home. In 1950, just 18.4 million women were working outside the home. By 2006, that figure was 66.9 million, according to the AFL-CIO Department of Professional Employees 2007 study.

The union difference shows in the median weekly wages in jobs that are predominantly female — and consequently lesser paid.

Union preschool and kindergarten teachers earned "a whopping 56.7 percent more than their non-union counterparts, while for elementary and middle school teachers, the union wage advantage was 34.6 percent," according to the study. In 2006, union librarians earned almost 29 percent more than non-union librarians, while union social workers and counselors earned 27 and 26.4 percent, respectively. Registered nurses who belonged to a union earned 15 percent more.

Since women earned just 76.5 percent as much as men overall, according to the Labor Department, the following statistic is not surprising: Nearly half of all multiple job-holders in 2004 were women, up from 22 percent in 1974.

FULL story at link.