But that’s not what real pay disparity is actually about. It’s about the monetary value we place on work “traditionally” done by men verses that which is “traditionally” done by women.
Let’s take, for example: janitor/custodians (less than 50% of janitors are female) verses maid/housekeeper (about 5% of which are male).
A janitor’s average starting salary is $11.30/hour whereas a maid’s is $10.09/hour. Salaries for janitors increase with years of experience; janitors with 20+ yrs of experience usually make $30,000+/year. Pay for maids rises steadily for more experienced workers, but goes down noticeably for employees with more than 20 years’ experience.
Most janitors work full-time, in one location, and (depending on the size of their work location) work with a crew. Their take-home pay is set and increases with their years of experience.
Some maids work in one location, like at hotels or maybe for rich people who keep a maid on staff. Others are self-employed, which means finding their own clients, negotiating costs (for work most people think should be cheap labor), having their own transportation, and sometimes, providing their own cleaning supplies and equipment. Then there are the maids who work for companies that hold contracts with individuals or facilities. They require their employees to be able to provide their own transportation, but they do reimburse mileage and provide cleaning supplies.
But here’s the kicker, because the $10.09 starting salary is a bit of a farce. By law, these companies are required to pay — no less than — minimum wage for however many hours their employees work. (That’s the State minimum, not the Federal minimum. So, if you live in Wyoming or Georgia, that’s $5.15/hr; the Federal minimum wage continues to be $7.25/hr.) Maids that work for these companies are assigned locations — often based on office politics — that come with different “commissions”. So let’s say I hired a professional cleaning service to come clean my 3 bedroom house and they charged me $240 for the 3 hours it took their maid to do the work. The cleaning service would then keep $192-$216 and add the remaining $24–48 to the maid’s paycheck. An extra $8–16/hour sounds great — except it’s not extra, it’s instead of. Except, the cleaning service expected it was only going to take 2 hours for the maid to finish cleaning, pack up her gear, load it back in her car and head to the next client. Except, the service knew it was going to take 1 maid 3 hours to do the job so they sent 2 maids to get it done in half the time. The service is still going to keep the 80–90% of the $120 they charged me, but the 2 maids now have to share the $12–24 commission. For those of you doing the math along with me — that comes out to anywhere from $6–12 for an hour and 1/2 of labor — hard, manual labor.
Know what this all means?
It means, long, laborious days, filled with ridiculous daily schedules, and no time to take breaks in order to make the average annual income of $23,769
But certainly, janitors/custodians — those working in what’s seen as a “traditionally” male profession — do work that’s far more strenuous and more deserving of the $3,750 more in average annual income than maids/housekeepers — the job considered so womanly that approximately 5% of men are willing to do it.
So what do janitors do?
Custodian Janitor Tasks: Perform general cleaning, light floor care and special event set ups. Collect and remove trash and recyclables. Clean rest room facilities and replenish supplies. Clean assigned areas including furniture, telephones, fixtures, walls, windows, window sills, blinds and vents. Sweep, mop, and vacuum all area floors, rest rooms and break areas
From Payscale.com on what maids do:
A maid will have many duties, dependent on their organization or the environment. These include general cleaning duties such as dish washing, vacuuming, sweeping, clothes laundering, cleaning surfaces, dusting surfaces, using a variety of chemicals and disinfectants, operating light machinery, cleaning toilets, replacing bed linens, emptying wastebaskets, throwing away old materials, cleaning windows, cleaning upholstery, wiping appliances, stocking kitchens, moping and waxing floors, cleaning baseboards, disinfecting equipment, carrying heavy objects, stocking supplies, maintaining inventory, polishing accessories, sorting materials, maintaining equipment, requesting repair services, hanging drapery, organizing closets and cabinets, stocking supplies, maintaining professional appearance, following a detailed work list, and other activities designated by the organization.
It also adds that:
This position generally requires somebody who is physically fit, as many laborious tasks are involved, including standing for long periods of time, kneeling, lifting, crouching, and bending.
Strangely, it mentioned nothing about the physical fitness one needs to endure the laborious work done by janitors/custodians.
I’m sure janitors have it rough, but until maids/housekeepers start getting paid as much as janitors do (I’m under no illusion that they’ll ever get paid what they actually deserve), can we please agree that pay equity is the myth, not pay disparity.