A new study finds that bisexual women and men are paid less than similarly qualified heterosexual women and men for doing the same jobs. The research was published by the American Sociological Association in the American Sociological Review.
The study of workplace pay discrimination is especially noteworthy because it separates bisexual individuals from gay men and lesbians.
“Sexual Orientation in the Labor Market” is by a doctoral student in Indiana University’s Department of Sociology. The author says gay men and lesbians are also paid less than heterosexual men and women, but he says those differences are mainly explained by the correlation between earnings and whether employees are married and have children.
The difference for bisexual individuals is that the evidence is “highly suggestive” that workplace discrimination explains the difference rather than marriages and kids. The author says the study stops short of conclusively proving that discrimination is the cause of the pay difference, but he ruled out a number of alternate explanations, including age, education and occupation.
He said the study bolsters the argument that stronger nondiscrimination laws and policies are still needed.
As you might well know, here in Wisconsin the law protects gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals from discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation.
The study used a pair of large data pools: the more than 20 years of data about the U.S. adult population in the General Social Survey, as well as the large data set about young adults in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health.
The fight for equality in the workplace continues with the help of skilled employment law attorneys committed to justice. Contact the Milwaukee law offices of Alan C. Olson & Associates, s.c., for more information.
