The New Meaning of “Women’s Work”

A lot of dialogue about women in the workplace centers on wage equality and “breaking the glass ceiling.” These issues are certainly important, because gender should not be a reason for discrimination, but they aren’t telling the whole story about women in the workforce. In fact, they’re barely telling any of it. Less than half of working women are in managerial or professional jobs, and approximately one in three U.S. working women holds a low-paid job with few opportunities for advancement. While women are underrepresented in the workforce, they are overrepresented in those jobs that pay less than $12 an hour, filling nearly 2/3 of those jobs.

For the average woman, breaking the glass ceiling is not a concern, because she’s not even in the room yet. The real concern for her is having insufficient hours, inconsistent shifts, on-call shifts, being sent home without pay, and getting her schedule just days in advance. As part of the Summer Leadership Program at the non-profit Women Employed, I’ve spent part of my summer interviewing women who work in retail and food service in downtown Chicago to hear the real situations of working women. Many of these women have similar stories.

Most of the women I talked to were single moms, who needed to get their kids to and from school, doctor’s appointments, and activities. Children often follow a set schedule, but when women’s work schedules are volatile, they are not able to commit to their children’s schedules. Instead, they are left to switch shifts or find last minute babysitters. Another common concern was the cost of daycare—without full-time work hours, women cannot receive government childcare subsidies. Employers seem to use volatile scheduling practices to make sure their hourly employees don’t get full-time work, relieving them of the burdens of providing benefits.

Without those benefits, women find their own health suffering. Besides the stress of financial insecurity and inadequate sleep, when workers do not have employer-provided medical, vision and dental insurance, they have a hard time accessing the types of care they need. While the Affordable Care Act theoretically ensures that everyone has access to affordable health care, until this past June, companies in 22 states across the country could deny women certain coverage, such as reproductive health care. If employers are not giving women the opportunity to qualify for health insurance, they have to seek it elsewhere, which is a major expense that their paychecks might not be able to cover. Further, fewer doctors accept the health care policies that these women would be able to afford, limiting their access to sufficient health care. Scheduling doctor appointments is also nearly impossible when schedules are unpredictable.

Finally, every woman with whom I spoke wanted a college degree, if she didn’t already have one. But finances and schedules both limit their access to higher education, and education is especially important for women workers. Often times, women need at least a Bachelor’s degree to be considered for positions that only require men to have a high school diploma. This often means that women are stuck in these low-wage jobs, without an obvious path out. The women I interviewed all recognized further education as a way to improve their work situation, but for many, it seemed out of reach.

With the upcoming presidential elections, people are talking about a lot of issues: healthcare, education, and the prospect of free community college. The Affordable Care Act and its consequences for women’s health have been recent Supreme Court debates. Across the country, programs for childcare and education are being slashed. The minimum wage needs to be raised.

These seem like discrete issues, but they all have one thing in common: they disproportionally affect the low-wage working women who keep this country running. There are many ways that we can help end unstable scheduling practices. For example, you can call your legislators to voice your support for the Schedules that Work Act, and similar future legislation. On a daily basis, you can support businesses known to employ fair scheduling practices, such as Costco or Trader Joes. Another option is to get involved with organizing groups or non-profits, such as Women Employed or the National Women’s Law Center.