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By Martha T. Moore
Across all occupations, women working full time earn about 82 percent of what men do, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, a social science research institute.
Barring wage-history questions is one proposal seeking to narrow the gender wage gap. Others include requiring paid sick leave and family leave. Because salary-history bans incur no public costs, they’re easier to get enacted by state legislatures, Johnson said. But it’s too soon to know if the laws will have an impact.
“The hope is that it will focus companies and line managers on having more explicit pay policies and starting to rely on people’s skills and experience rather than their prior salary,” said Ariane Hegewisch, the program director for employment and earnings at the women’s policy research institute. “Because it hasn’t been implemented, we cannot say with certainty that it has been happening. But that is the hope.”