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Like many people I can acknowledge that there is a pay gap between men and women. But the question is why? The why of this is a little more complicated and nuanced than people realize. If you think it's all discrimination then you will be missing other factors that's contributing to this gap. Like the fact that more men tend to negotiate their salaries in comparison to women. This can explain why both men and women coming out of college and going into the same professions,working the same hours the men can earn more because they've probably negotiated and the women didn't.
Most of the differences in lifetime earnings of men vs woman (and that is what these studies reflect, not annual or hourly income, but lifetime income (and if you don't believe me, read the actual studies), are due to the fact that many women interrupt their careers to raise children, or work an abbreviated career working only as long as it takes for the husband to get a good-paying, career-grade job. Women also tend to change jobs more often.
When compared apples to apples, women earn about 97% as much as men, all other factors normalized.
I can already tell you where this question will lead to. It will eventually get into a fight between liberals and conservatives and possibly race. Just wanted to warn you.
I can already tell you where this question will lead to. It will eventually get into a fight between liberals and conservatives and possibly race. Just wanted to warn you.
There are too many variables that people don't explain.
If you take gross wages vs gross wages, I'd expect a pay gap, simply b/c high level executives ratio of M/F, and pay, skew the numbers, as well as more men in well-compensated fields like finance and engineering.
I'd also expect there to be a larger gap between older men & women b/c a big part of your current wages are your previous wages, and that compounds if you were discriminated against in the past.
I'd also expect there to be a pay gap in positions where wages are negotiated b/c men negotiate more often and for more money.
I don't believe that things are being compared apples to apples in wage discrepancy.
But even factoring all these thing, I don't doubt men make more than women due to some discrimination. There are too many people w/ ignorant opinions born from an era where those ideas were tolerated to not be true.
Young female college grads who don't have children are now making more than their male counterparts. Given that 40% of children are born out of wedlock, however, women as a whole don't fare as well because so many single moms settle for lower paying jobs that can better accommodate their parental responsibilities. Even among dual income families, it is far more likely for the mother than the father to accept a lower paying career path in exchange for more flexibility to be able to care for the children.
Like many people I can acknowledge that there is a pay gap between men and women.
Agree but when all things are equal it's minimal.
Quote:
But the question is why?
There is a variety of reasons starting off with how these statistics with wide margins are calculated. They are based on the average of the whole population without any consideration to other factors.
The single biggest factor is children, women are more likely to leave their careers to have children and care for them which leaves them with less experience than their male counterparts.
Women are more likely to choose careers that pay less.....
Men are more likely to work overtime and weekends......
These things amongst others drive down the average wages of the female population as a whole.
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