The Huffington Post reports that a new survey conducted by the Retail Action Project and the Murphy Institute of 435 retail workers found that female employees earn an average of $9.77, while their male counterparts earn an average of $10.64.
“Despite laws that prohibit gender discrimination in the work place, the pay gap between men and women remains an issue outside of the retail industry; women earned 77 cents for every dollar that men earned in 2010, according to the National Committee on Pay Equity. The Committee is a coalition of women’s and civil rights organizations, unions and other groups that work to eliminate pay disparities.”
Retail is a female dominated industry, with women making up 64 percent of cashier and stock clerk positions, according to a study in 2008 by the Ford Foundation’s Economic Development Program, but they make up only 33 percent of management positions.
According to the the Retail Action Project survey, the Huffington Post continues, “women retail workers are less likely on a whole to get promoted or receive benefits than men.”