Wage Gap - Let's Debunk the Myth

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Why don't companies employ only women if women earn only 77 cents for every dollar a man earns for equal work? Wages are the most expensive part of most companies' budgets. Hiring just women, on the other hand, would reduce costs by almost one-quarter – savings that would head straight to the bottom line. Isn't it true that companies strive to be profitable? Or are they simply poor at math?

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Really, the math challenge is with the feminists, actresses, and lawmakers who perpetuate the income disparity fallacy. This is why:

The figure of 77 cents on the dollar is determined by calculating the median earnings of all women working full-time by the median earnings of all men working full-time. In other words, if the average annual income of all men is, say, 40,000 dollars, and the average annual income of all women is, say, 30,800 dollars, ladies earn 77 cents for every dollar an individual receives. 0.77 is the product of dividing 30,800 by 40,000.

However, these calculations do not show a gender pay disparity because they do not take into account the profession, place, schooling, or weekly hours worked. According to a survey conducted by the American Association of University Women [AAUW], a feminist group, the pay disparity shrinks to just 6.6 cents when separate choices made by men and women are considered. And the main term here is "choice." The small gender disparity that does exist has little to do with paying women less, or sexism; it has to do with disparities in actual job decisions made by men and women.

The United States Department of Labor published a study in 2009 that analysed more than 50 peer-­reviewed studies and found that the oft-­mentioned pay difference of 23% "could be almost entirely the product of individual choices made by both male and feminine staff."

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Well, let’s check out a number of those choices. Georgetown University compiled an inventory of the five best-­paying college majors and therefore the percentage of men or women majoring in those fields: 

Number 1 best­paying major: Petroleum Engineering: 87% male 

Number 2: Pharmaceutical Sciences: 48% male 

Number 3: Mathematics and Computer Science: 67% male 

Number 4: Aerospace Engineering: 88% male 

Number 5: Chemical Engineering: 72% male 

Notice that ladies out­ represent men in just one among the five top­ paying majors – by only a couple of percentage points. Now consider an equivalent study's list of the five worst paying college majors:

 

Number 1: Counseling and Psychology: 74% female 

Number 2: infancy Education: 97% female 

Number 3: Theology and non-secular Vocations: 66% male 

Number 4: Human Services and Community Organization: 81% female 

Number 5: Social Work: 88% female 

With the exception of one segment, it is the ladies that are at the top. Also within the same profession, men and women make various job decisions that affect the amount of money they make. Consider healthcare, where male nurses receive 18% more than female nurses on average. What's the reason? Male nurses gravitate toward the top­paying nursing specialities, work longer hours, and are overwhelmingly found in cities with the highest salaries.

Here's how one nursing compensation specialist, Professor Linda Aiken of the University of Pennsylvania, summarises the data: “Career choices and academic differences explain most, if not all, the gender gap in nursing.” When these disparities are taken into account in all occupations, the Department of Labor paper concludes that the mysterious pay disparity is anywhere between 4.8 and 7% – almost equivalent to the 6.6 percentage gap discovered by the AAUW.

So why is there such a gap? Needless to mention, no one knows, as both the AAUW and, by extension, the Department of Labour admit. There are several factors that influence incomes that no single research can address. Few wage disparity studies account for factors such as a hazardous work environment; for example, men are overwhelmingly overrepresented on oil rigs. Another factor is that men are more capable and eager to work long hours without warning.

According to Harvard economist Claudia Goldin, even though two lawyers have the same degree, specialisation, and work the same amount of hours, employers would pay more to someone who is prepared to always be "on-call" and available in the workplace when the firm wants them, rather than someone who prefers a more regular schedule. This is not sexism; it is just common sense.

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With more rational categories and meanings, any pay disparity that exists will undoubtedly narrow to the point of disappearing. So it seems that corporate owners aren't poor at math just because they don't recruit just women. Those who argue that women earn 77 cents on the dollar for equal work as men, on the other hand, aren't just bad at math – they're bad at telling the facts.

A revisit to one of the PragerU videos inspired me to write this article. Though most of the content is almost similar, It was nice to watch it again after the Trevor Noah video on YT that boasted the Gender Wage Gap, Once again.