Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Let's not make it a woman vs. man thing. If two people doing the same job are getting paid differently -- should a company reduce the pay of one to make the pay equal -- or should the company raise their costs to pay them both the same.
Depends on the financial situation of the company right?
Lets go further, if one person has been there for 3 years, should a person who just hired get the same as the person who has been there for 3 years, exact same qualifications, just the years difference?
I know you didn't just say that women have a leg up on promotions over men once they have kids.
LOL.
I dunno where you work, but it's not like that anywhere else in the United States.
Being a mother is a liability until your kids are at least in high school or college.
No I didn't say they have a leg up. I said they have a pretty fair shot. They also enjoy some benefits that men don't.
Not like that anywhere else? Every plant, every distribution center, every office owned by the corporation I work for has comparable benefits. That means most of our competitors have someone comparable as well. Our benefits reflect our industry standard.
Most businesses pay a wage to keep good employees. They understand that it costs more to train a new person than it does to improve a current employee.
Where I work men and women don't have separate pay scales. They are identical. Who gets promoted is based upon performance and drive.
Now where the guys get a little ruffled and understandably so.
Maternity leave is up to 4 months
Paternity leave is 1 month.
Women will get promoted even if out for 4 months if they were in a promotable role. A guy goes out on DB for more than 90 days theres a good chance he will be passed over. After all he wasn't driving production during his DB time.
Women have a number of benefits guys don't have.
Light duty if on period. Just need a doctor to say they need it.
All kinds of support groups to help women get promoted. Leadership courses, mechanical courses, women's offsithts etc.
So at least where I work woman have a pretty fair shot.
Absolutely spot on. This is true in my experience in my part of the United States at my job as well. Women have a number of benefits in the workplace that men dont have. A couple of which I feel are warranted, but they are unequal benefits nontheless.
More interesting to me is that in some fields, women are less represented. There's really no reason for that to be the case. The wage gap, while technically real, is often misunderstood.
How about the fact that women are more likely than men to choose fields that are less lucrative? Why? Because they have options. They have the freedom to do so. A woman can chose to major in art history in college and work for a non-profit after she graduates. She isn't concerned about higher earnings at the time. Why? Because she, like many women, will eventually marry a man who earns more, because he didn't indulge in a career that was socially fulfilling. Why? Because he knew no matter how much modern women talk about equality, a man is still expected to earn more to attract a woman.
If a woman wanted some amazing earnings, she would major in petroleum engineering and work in the oil fields or on a GOPLAT ocean rig. Highly lucrative. Yet what we see is women would rather be models, actresses or singers than do the kind of manual labor that men are expected to do.
Heck, if we want to talk about underrepresentation in traditionally male-dominated fields, why don't we see more women working as sanitation collectors, sewer engineers, cow herders, car mechanics, etc? Or is it only unfair when they're not in a cushy air-conditioned office?
Quote:
Originally Posted by soletaire
Absolutely spot on. This is true in my experience in my part of the United States at my job as well. Women have a number of benefits in the workplace that men dont have. A couple of which I feel are warranted, but they are unequal benefits nontheless.
Not just in the workplace. Women have a number of benefits and privileges in life they conveniently ignore when trying to argue about how bad they have it compared to men, and what's worse, some will snidely refer to their numerous privileges as "benevolent sexism." This is having your cake and eating it too. All the benefits of progressive society plus the expectations of chivalrous behavior is pretty hard to turn down, I'll admit. Who wouldn't want the world to favor you?
In most entry level jobs, men and women are paid the same. When they aren't, a number of factors are at play, such as experience, skill, and seniority.
Not that I don't think the equal pay issue is important. More interesting to me is that in some fields, women are less represented. There's really no reason for that to be the case. The wage gap, while technically real, is often misunderstood.
Most women don't want to do the work that many men do. We don't see women complaining about not being equally represented among lumberjacks, oil workers, fishermen, sanitary workers and other labor intensive jobs. Women don't do the same type of work as men, so it follows that they would make less.
How about the fact that women are more likely than men to choose fields that are less lucrative? Why? Because they have options. They have the freedom to do so. A woman can chose to major in art history in college and work for a non-profit after she graduates. She isn't concerned about higher earnings at the time. Why? Because she, like many women, will eventually marry a man who earns more, because he didn't indulge in a career that was socially fulfilling. Why? Because he knew no matter how much modern women talk about equality, a man is still expected to earn more to attract a woman.
Not only that..but I cant tell you how many times Ive been talking with women who without a moments hesitation will say "I cant believe an adult would be ok with living with their parents after 30. Especially a man. You know, because you would think a real man would have his own car, place to stay etc."
And Im sitting there thinking, "well why would it be unacceptable or any less acceptable in this age of equality, for a man to be a freeloader than for a woman to do the same?...that is if we're all suppose to be held to the same standard"
Speaking of equity, why are women eligible to receive Social Security at the same age as men? They live, on average, about five years longer.
Social Security was and is largely designed to be an anti-poverty scheme for females and if required minor children.
Yes, all workers pay into the system but then (back in the 1930's) when scheme was created and still today the target was poverty in older women. But only if they marry, spinsters unless they've managed to land a high paying job for most of their employment career (not very likely historically), fare far worse with Social Security than a woman who never works a day in her life but marries (and remains so) well.
Women live longer than men, that is a fact. Social Security was meant in part to address the poverty that often befell widows who either didn't marry well, and or otherwise not very well provided for by their late husband's estate. This could mean a working man who never bothered taking out life insurance, saving and or otherwise leaving his wife/family covered in case of his demise; and or the oft case of a widow simply outliving whatever was left.
Until the whole gay marriage thing, *spouse* in Social Security meant someone of the opposite sex and most of those benefits flowed mainly to wives, widows and divorcees.
Lone among any other type of life insurance, annuity or whatever the rates levied for Social Security apply evenly to all workers, However those who are married get far more out of the scheme than singles.
A married woman who has never worked a day in her life can claim spousal benefits based upon her husband's work record. When he dies she can the claim survivor benefits. She will get Medicare either way regardless. Divorcees can also claim same benefits subject to length of marriage, and this can lead to several women (and possibly their minor children), all claiming benefits from one man's work record.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
