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Jewish World Review June 22, 2005 / 15 Sivan, 5765 ‘Gender pay gap’ is pap By John Stossel
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Feminists keep demanding new laws to protect women from the
so-called wage gap. Many studies have found that women make about 75 cents
for every dollar a man earns. Activists say the pay difference is all about
sexism.
"No matter how hard women work, or whatever they achieve in
terms of advancement in their own professions and degrees, they will not be
compensated equitably!" shouted Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., at a "wage
equity" rally in Washington, D.C.
But how could this be possible? Suppose you're an employer doing
the hiring. If a woman does equal work for 25 percent less money, businesses
would get rich just by hiring women. Why would any employer ever hire a man?
Martha Burk, chair of the National Council of Women's
Organizations, gave me this simple answer: "Because they like to hire men,
John. They like to hire people like themselves and they darn sure like to
promote people like themselves." In other words, men so love their fellow
men that they are willing to pay a premium of, say, $10,000 on what would
otherwise be a $30,000-a-year job, just for the sheer pleasure of employing
a man. Nonsense. It's market competition that sets wages.
"Women themselves say they're far more likely to care about
flexibility," says author Warren Farrell. "Men say, I'm far more likely to
care about money."
Farrell spent about 15 years going over U.S. Census statistics
and research studies. His research found that the wage gap exists not
because of sexism, but because more men are willing to do certain kinds of
jobs. "The average full-time working male works more than a full-time
working female," Farrell said.
Farrell illustrates his findings at lectures by asking men and
women to stand in answer to a series of questions about job choices, such as
whether they work more than 40 hours a week, outdoors or in a dangerous job.
Again and again, more men stand.
Job choices explain the pay difference, Farrell argues in his
recent book, "Why Men Earn More: The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gap."
They also explain, Farrell said, why more top corporate
executives are men.
Suppose two people have equal potential, but one takes on more
demanding, consuming, lucrative jobs while the other places a higher
priority on family. The one who makes work the focus will be more productive
for an employer than the one who puts his or her home life first. The latter
will get more of the pleasures of family. So he (and it tends to be "he")
will make more money, even though she would be equally productive and
equally rewarded if she made the same choices.
"Women and men look at their life," said Farrell, "and women
say, 'What do I need? Do I need more money, or do I need more time?' And
women are intelligent enough to say, I need more time. And so women lead
balanced lives. Men should be learning from women."
One irony is that some people, especially young women, may make
the choices that lead to the pay gap precisely because they have been taught
the job market shortchanges women. Women who see the market as hostile may
put their hearts into their homes instead of their careers — thus making
less money.
But the market isn't hostile. The market is just. It rewards you
for the work you do, not for the work you choose not to do. If men want the
family time many women have, we must accept lower financial rewards — and
if women want the money, they have to work like money-grubbing men.
It's our choice.
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© 2005, by JFS Productions, Inc. Distributed by Creators Syndicate, Inc. |
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