Gender Disparity Goes Beyond Pay Gap; It's Hitting Women Where They Live

Written by Ryan Sartor | Patch National Staff

Some economists and equal rights activists have long pointed to the gender wage gap that exists in America. A 2015 study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, a public policy think tank, found that female full-time workers make 79 cents for every dollar earned by men.

A new report by housing data firm Realty Trac found gender disparities in real estate in the U.S. Using data from April 2016, taking into account homeowners who have owned houses for 15 years or more, the report finds that homes owned by single men are valued 10 percent higher than homes owned by single women.

On average, homes owned by single men have appreciated by $63,921 in a 15 year period, while homes owned by single women have appreciated by $53,809 in that same period. That’s a difference of 16 percent.

The two states with the highest disparity: Wisconsin with 41 percent and West Virginia, where there’s a 72 percent gap with the rate of appreciation for single men’s houses versus single women’s houses.

Anne Hedgepeth, a government relations manager for The American Association of University Women (AAUW), a non-profit organization that works to advance equity for women, spoke to Patch about the gender housing gap.

“It’s such an interesting symptom of this bigger problem,” Hedgepeth said. “Women are working with fewer resources.”

Hedgepeth went on to say that at all phases of men and women’s careers there is a wage gap. Beyond housing issues, Hedgepeth pointed to other areas that were affected by the gender pay gap, such as student debt burden.

Women who graduated college in 2008 paid back 33 percent of their student loans four years later, according to AAUW, analyzing Department of Education data. During the same period, men repaid 44 percent of their debt. Black women, whose pay gap is more severe than white women, earn 63 percent of white men’s earnings. Black women had only reduced their student loan debt by 9 percent in 2012. Hispanic or Latina women, who earn 54 percent of white male earnings, had only paid 3 percent of their student loan bill in the same time period.

Hedgepeth pointed to wage transparency as an important step toward addressing the gender wage gap, as well as ensuring that employers are not allowed to retaliate against workers who discuss their pay with one another.
And while 48 states have equal pay laws, only 16 statesinclude anti-retaliation or anti-discrimination prohibition with most employers covered and some clarification of employer defenses, according to AAUW’s 2016 report on the gender pay gap.

When asked what can be done to finally address the gender wage gap, Hedgepeth's answer was simple: “Put an end to it.”