这个月是美国的“妇女节”，作为对妇女权利和为争取平等权利所取得成就的纪念节日。在节日里，美国人好像没有选择给女性送鲜花，而是在合计，女性之所以很在乎男性给自己送鲜花，而自己支付能力“有限”的经济原因：男女不同酬！

大家知道，美国女人相对于美国白人男人的地位平等权利的争取斗争，由来已久，但是，她们不仅在选举权，工作权等居多方面的抗争中，落后于美国第一大少数民族的黑人，而且，即使到了今天，在很多领域，妇女还是有被压抑的感觉。

至今为止，美国还没有出现一位女性总统，对于这个自称世界最平等国度的美国，也应该是一大的尴尬现实吧。

从小学到高中，甚至是大学毕业，如果就学业成绩来比较，女性不仅不输给男性，甚至是让男性汗颜好几分，不得不自认不如。君不见，即使是在华裔社区，那些光亮的孩子里面，女孩子的比例依然大于男孩子。

从人数上看，美国很多大学的女性比例不仅不比男性低，有的甚至更高。

那么，这样一来就有一个让人难以接受和解释的问题了：在随后的职场上，为什么女性的薪酬就一直比男性低呢？而且还低不少？

有人说，那是因为：女性很多在达到一定程度之后就选择退出了竞争，留在家庭相夫教子，让她们的丈夫去为她们“报仇雪恨”；或者，即使留在职场的，很多人也会因为相夫教子的需要，而选择有节制的“退却”，以退为进，争取更多的时间，为的是有精力来教育好自己下一代的孩子们。

还有的人说，那是因为，职场上的男人们拉帮结派，组成统一战线，来“下作”地共同对付作为少数派的女性。

还有的说，是因为，女性对男性的特殊吸引力，让很多有才华有潜力的女性，最终迷失了自己，结果，让“得便宜还占乖”的“可恶”男人们给愚弄了。

还有的说，···。 就不再说了。

看了下面的这些数据，你可别轻易的不开心。因为，实际结果可能不是那么的坏。理由是，如果你仔细想来，女性所获得薪酬的平均数，很可能掩盖了很多数据背后的差异。所以，只是凭借平均数来判断，可能很难明白其中的真正差异所在。即使如此，看看这些统计意义上的数据，再结合自己身边的微观感受，你还是能够悟出不少的道理来的。

如果以康州的Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk，这个美国最富裕的地区之一为例，女性的平均收入为五万，男性为七万，中间家庭收入为七点五万。这是不是就意味着，平均而言，拥有中间收入的家庭，每十家只有一家的主妇在工作，赚取女性的平均收入？这种解读虽然不是很准确，却也有点意思。

美国中间家庭的平均收入只有五万，还不及该地区女性的平均五点五万的收入！不过，这也不一定就说明，在那里生活的女性就能享受到更好的生活质量。因为，收入高可能还抵不了相对更高的生活开支。 

所以，老是盯着更高的收入，也不是一个好的追求好生活的办法。

The Worst-Paying Cities for Women

March 7, 2012

10. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL
> Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 72.6%
> Median income for men: $51,124
> Median income for women: $37,101

The city of Palm Bay’s largest employers include several manufacturers of durable goods — a sector notorious for being among the worst for paying women equal wages. Several jobs in the sector employ mostly men and very few women. According to the Department of Labor, only 1.5% of operating engineers and other construction equipment operators are women, one of the lowest rates among all occupations. Among the area’s largest employers in area in the durable goods sector are semiconductor producer Intersil, electronics manufacturer MC Assembly, defense technology company DRS Technologies, and the Melbourne-based communications equipment company Harris. The Palm Bay metropolitan area is completely out of step with the state of Florida, which has the lowest rate of pay inequality in the country.

9. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ
> Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 72.6%
> Median income for men: $53,608
> Median income for women: $38,890

Two sectors with some of the worst income gaps between men and women are also among the largest employers in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metropolitan area. In the health services and social assistance industry, women earn just 71.8% of what men do. In the nondurable — or consumable — goods sector, women earn 73.8% of what men earn on average. These disparities are significantly worse than the national average. Some of the largest employers in the area are health services companies Lehigh Valley Hospital and St. Luke’s Hospital, followed by chemical company Air Products & Chemicals and energy company PPL, according to the Lehigh Valley Association of REALTORS. The area is also home to a number of large food producers, which are included in the nondurable goods sector.

8. Boise City-Nampa, ID
> Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 72.4%
> Median income for men: $44,908
> Median income for women: $32,514

The Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area is well-known for its forest products industry. The metro is home to major employers such as Idaho Pacific Lumber Company, paper company Boise Cascade and Idaho Timber. Around the turn of the century, however, Boise’s technology sector became its largest industry. Companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Micron Technology are among the city of Boise’s largest employers. Women, on average, earn less than 75% of what men do in the durable goods sector, which includes tech products, and less than 74% in the nondurable goods sector, which includes forest products. By state, Idaho ranks 12th-worst for earnings inequality by gender.

7. Chattanooga, TN-GA
> Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 72.4%
> Median income for men: $45,273
> Median income for women: $32,753

Chattanooga is home to a particularly large manufacturing industry of both durable and nondurable goods — both among the worst for pay inequality. According to the city’s website, the largest manufacturing employers in the Chattanooga metropolitan area are McKee Foods Corporation, Synthetic Industries, and home appliance company Roper.

6. Colorado Springs, CO
> Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 72.1%
> Median income for men: $50,101
> Median income for women: $36,126

Colorado Springs’ economy is built on health care, the military, tourism, and the high-tech industry. The city’s two largest employers are Memorial Health System and Penrose-St. Francis Health Services. On average, women in the health care and social assistance sector are paid 71.8% of what men are paid. Among Colorado Springs’ other large employers are such durable goods companies as high-tech manufacturer Atmel, defense contractors Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, as well as communications company Verizon Business, which operated in the information sector. While Colorado Springs does poorly, the state of Colorado does relatively well, ranking 13th highest among all states when it comes to equal pay.

5. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT
> Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 71.8%
> Median income for men: $70,605
> Median income for women: $50,714

The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk metropolitan area is one of the wealthiest areas in the country, with a median household income of $74,831. The national average is $50,046. Disparity, however, affects the wealthy just as much and women in the area earn just 71.8% of what men do, on average. The area’s largest employment sector is health care, with Bridgeport Hospital and St. Vincent Medical Center the two largest employers in the city of Bridgeport. Although there are many more women than men in the health care and social assistance sector, men’s salaries are significantly higher. Bridgeport is also a major center for investment management companies. UBS employs 4,000 people in Stamford — the largest amount in the region. The finance sector is the absolute worst industry when it comes to income inequality between the genders.

4. Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC
> Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 70.6%
> Median income for men: $46,648
> Median income for women: $32,926

According to the Augusta Convention & Visitors Bureau, the largest industries in Augusta are health care, the military and manufacturing. The top employers in the city are the nuclear reservation Savannah River Site, the U.S. Army Signal Center and Fort Gordon, and the Medical College of Georgia. Manufacturing and health care both sway heavily towards paying men more than women.

3. Toledo, OH
> Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 70.0%
> Median income for men: $49,739
> Median income for women: $34,817

Among the Toledo metropolitan area’s largest employers are ProMedica Health Services, Mercy Health Partners, and Chrysler Holdings, which built its Toledo Assembly Complex in the city. The city’s largest industries are manufacturing, health services, and education. These industries, as a whole, fail to provide women pay equality. In the Toledo metropolitan area, women earn 70% of what men do.

2. Ogden-Clearfield, UT
> Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 64.4%
> Median income for men: $51,766
> Median income for women: $33,331

The metropolitan statistical area of Ogden-Clearfield, UT, is the second-worst in the country for gender pay inequality.  Government, education, and manufacturing are the metropolitan area’s largest industries. Public administration and manufacturing are both highly imbalanced sectors when it comes to gender pay equality. The city of Ogden’s largest employers are the Department of Treasury, Weber State University, automotive safety product manufacturer Autoliv, and McKay Dee Hospital. Utah, on the whole, performs poorly compared to other states with regards to equal pay, ranking third-worst in the country.

1. Baton Rouge, LA
> Women’s pay as pct. of men’s: 63.4%
> Median income for men: $51,103
> Median income for women: $32,385

On average, a full-time working woman doesn’t even earn two thirds of what her male counterpart earns in the Baton Rouge metropolitan area. According to the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, the city’s largest employers are industrial construction company Turner Industries, the Louisiana State University System, engineering, procurement, and construction conglomerate Shaw Group, and industrial contractor Performance Contractors. Although LSU is an outlier, the other companies paint a picture of an industrial-leaning economy, which operates primarily in construction and the manufacturing of durable goods — two sectors with some of the worst gaps in pay between men and women. The state of Louisiana also has the greatest pay disparity in the country, with women earning 67.2% of what men do in the entire state.

Ashley C. Allen, Charles B. Stockdale