Why Wages
of Women Lower Than Men:
The
wages of women are generally lower than men because of the
following reasons:
(i) Men are physically stronger than women. They can undertake
hard and strenuous works but women cannot perform such jobs. So
they receive lower wages than men.
(ii) There are only a few occupations which are open to women.
The number of ladies trying to secure services in these limited
occupation is generally larger than their demand. The
competition among the women workers brings a fall in wage rate.
(iii) Women generally do not take to any profession permanently.
They very often leave the job after their marriage. So for the
short period, when they work, they accept lower wages from their
employers.
(iv) Most of the women are not literate as men are. They,
therefore, are not capable of undertaking responsible jobs. So
they are paid lower wanes than men.
(v) Women do not have well organized trade unions. They lack the
power of raising their wages through them. It is due to this
reason also their wages are not high.
(vi) There is another very important factor which we can name as
biological one. Women cannot regularly perform their duties due
to maternal functions .like maternity, etc. As they have to
remain absent during such periods, they get lower wages than
man.
Modern
Tendency:
The modem
tendency is towards equality of remuneration between the two
sexes. There are many occupations which were earlier regarded as
monopoly of men but now-a-days women are taking up these jobs as
efficiently as the men can. For instance, in railways, air
force, army, industry, agriculture, etc. the women are doing
their jobs very well and are earning almost the same amount
which men are receiving. There are certain occupations like
typing, record-keeping, stenography, computer services etc.,
where the wages of women are higher than men, because in these
occupations women have proved more efficient then men. But on
the whole even then, women receive lower wages than men due to
the reasons stated above.
