September 10, 2005
The Gender Pay Gap Lie Exposed
We hear the statistics about how men make more then women. This is touted as proof of discrimination against women. What they don't tell you is that a woman usually makes more then a man for the same job.
Nothing disturbs working women more than the statistics often mentioned on Labor Day showing that they are paid only 76 cents to men's dollar for the same work.But this excellent article by Warren Farrell (ex-boardmember of the National Organization for Women in New York City) puts the truth up against the myth. I like how he finally came to his realization.
Then I asked myself, "If an employer has to pay a man one dollar for the same work a woman would do for 76 cents, why would anyone hire a man?"Bingo, if an employer could get the same work done for 75% of the cost men would be unemployable in a competitive market. Women activist are going to have to decide if corporations are greedy or discriminatory because it obviously could not be both if they could get away with getting the job done at 76% of the cost. Why ship jobs overseas if all a company has to do to increase profits is fire all the men and hire women on the cheap. Obviously this is absurd. There is a reality though.
Comparing men and women with the "same jobs," then, is to compare apples and oranges. However, when all 25 choices are the same, the great news for women is that then the women make more than the men. Is there discrimination against women? Yes, like the old boys' network. And sometimes discrimination against women becomes discrimination against men: in hazardous fields, women suffer fewer hazards. For example, more than 500 marines have died in the war in Iraq. All but two were men. In other fields, men are virtually excluded - try getting hired as a male dental hygienist, nursery school teacher, cocktail waiter.Choices do have consequences for both men and women and that’s the difference. Read it all.There are 80 jobs in which women earn more than men - positions like financial analyst, speech-language pathologist, radiation therapist, library worker, biological technician, motion picture projectionist. Female sales engineers make 143 percent of their male counterparts; female statisticians earn 135 percent.
Carnival of the Trackbacks XXVIII
Posted by Sid at September 10, 2005 12:20 AM | Discrimination
