Lindsay Bray Landsberg’s Post

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Executive Search Partner Digital, Consumer & Retail

The last 2 sentences are a brutal summation: “Until we reconcile our cultural ambivalence toward working mothers, I don’t think the gap is going to get any better. Maybe in another 20 years, we’ll get another two cents.” #workingwomen #executivetalent #femaleleadership https://lnkd.in/dinbzmve

Opinion | The Gender Pay Gap Is a Culture Problem

Opinion | The Gender Pay Gap Is a Culture Problem

https://www.nytimes.com

I agree, and this has been a constant theme since I entered the workforce (late 1980's). While I understand that younger women are only just now realizing that there is a gap, it isn't something new. It took me a significant amount of time to finally fix the 'mommy tax' that I had to pay for prioritizing my children over my career. In the end, I was finally able to get to the market rate for my profession, but it took me leaving the country (e.g. a US employer couldn't ask me my current package because it was not comparable to US compensation) to finally demand, and receive, market pay. While there is progress with states putting in place the 'you can't ask my salary,' the reality is that companies find a way around that and still do ask your current compensation. The pandemic provided a greater opportunity for working mothers to get closer to market pay with the necessary flexibility to manage their personal lives, but that is beginning to erode with the return to the office mandates that are disproportionately impacting working mothers. So, in the end, it's two steps forward, one step back as we continue to fight for being fairly compensated for the work we do while our personal priorities shift.

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