Tips to help you mitigate the gender pay gap

It’s a sad truth, even today, that as a woman, you may have to work harder to achieve the same things men do.

While the gender pay gap has been closing slowly, it will always be critical to be able to advocate for yourself to make sure you get the salary you are worth. Luckily, there are a few ways to mitigate the gender pay gap.

Make your current salary stretch further

While saving is a great habit for anyone, regardless of your age or gender, it’s often especially important for women as they may not receive quite as much as their male counterparts. Making your money stretch can help it go further, allowing you to build wealth.

Start by listing out your monthly expenses and looking for ways to cut them down. As food prices go up, you may decide to shop sales and purchase more store brand products.

If you have debt, like student loans, you might consider a student loan refinance as you can get terms to fit your needs. Getting different terms on your loan gives you more flexibility, freeing up money for other expenses so you can begin investing to build wealth.

Raising your current salary

Stretching your current income is great, but don’t be afraid of asking for a promotion or raise at work, especially if you have not received one recently. If you have taken on more work, for example, it is import to remind your manager about the value you are adding to the company.

Sometimes, women make the mistake of waiting for someone else to recognize what they are doing. While this can happen in some cases, you do risk being overlooked. So it’s important to be proactive – it could result in a promotion or raise sooner rather than later, and every little bit counts.

Don’t think about just salary

Remember that it is not just your compensation that is at stake here. The amount you earn will have a direct impact on all other aspects of your financial life, from debt repayment strategies to home ownership to retirement.

Look into other benefits your employer offers to make sure you are taking full advantage of them. Make sure you are taking advantage of any free health, dental, or vision checkups; finding any problems early on can often save you money on medical bills later on.

If your employer offers a retirement plan, make sure you are contributing at least the employer’s match. If they match up to 9% of your salary and you are only contributing 7%, look for ways to make your budget stretch enough to allow you to contribute at least 9%. Otherwise, you risk leaving money on the table.

Getting another offer

You need to find a career you love, whether that means staying with your current company or looking elsewhere. Even if you don’t want to leave your job, you can still be open to other opportunities since they can help you with your current position.

If you get an offer for similar work with higher pay, you could push your current salary up. Of course, this does have some risk associated with it, but there are some benefits to staying at your current job instead of switching jobs if the money is the same.

Photo by Andreea Avramescu