The Wage Gap Is Really A Life-Choice Gap
Ashe Schow writes at the WashEx:
Despite continued claims from the White House and media that women earning less than men is solely or entirely due to discrimination, a new Bureau of Labor Statistics report puts that explanation to rest.The report, released this week, found that women on average made 82.1 cents to the dollar that men earned. At first glance, this 17.9-cent gap still seems high, even though it's lower than the oft-cited 23-cent figure.
But dig deeper, and one will find that the gap is nearly entirely due to the choices women make in their personal lives. Mark J. Perry, an American Enterprise Scholar, made an incredibly handy chart comparing women's earnings to men...
...Single women with no children earned 96.1 percent of what men with similar characteristics earned -- and that doesn't even begin to factor in career and education choices. As Perry noted, marriage and children have -- in terms of earnings -- a negative impact for women.
"Therefore, BLS data show that marriage has a significant and negative effect on women's earnings relative to men's, but we can realistically assume that marriage is a voluntary lifestyle decision, and it's that personal choice, not necessarily labor market discrimination, that contributes to much of the gender wage gap for married workers," Perry wrote.
Another significant factor contributing to the wage gap is the number of hours worked. Married women working full-time and having children under the age of 18 earned only 78.9 percent of what married men with children earned. But there is no evidence this is due to discrimination -- the difference was that men were more likely than women to work 40-plus and 60-plus hour work weeks, contributing to higher earnings.
The money quote: "Single women with no children earned 96.1 percent of what men with similar characteristics earned -- and that doesn't even begin to factor in career and education choices."
The 'Hawk.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at December 10, 2014 11:19 PM
I'll have to go look at that. I wonder if the workers surveyed were hourly or salaried or both, and for the salaried, if they attempted to do an actual per-hours-worked comparison, including all of the unpaid hours that many salaried people put in. I would contend that it isn't marriage and children per se that accounts for women earning less, but the lesser working hours and reduced dedication to career that usually accompanies those choices.
Cousin Dave at December 11, 2014 6:06 AM
Love Burge.
Amy Alkon at December 11, 2014 8:47 AM
according to the Bureau of Labor Statistic
FULL TIME IS THIRTY-FIVE HOURS OR MORE,
SO A NINETY HOUR WORK WEEK AND A THIRTY-SIX HOUR WORK WEEK BOTH COUNT AS THIRTY-FIVE HOURS WHEN FIGURING THE 'WAGE GAP'
sorry for capping that but everyone seems to ignore this startling fact.
lujlp at December 11, 2014 11:13 AM
Cousin Dave,
This is a correlation not a causation even though it is presented as causal. As you say married women tend to work less. People with children tend to work less. Hence lower annual pay. No discrimination. Just people figuring out their own best situation.
Ben at December 11, 2014 11:36 AM
"The money quote: "Single women with no children earned 96.1 percent of what men with similar characteristics earned -- and that doesn't even begin to factor in career and education choices.""
If there were no discrimination, shouldn't that quote have read:"The money quote: "Single women with no children earned 100 percent of what men with similar characteristics earned -- and that doesn't even begin to factor in career and education choices."?
Just sayin....
wtf at December 11, 2014 8:43 PM
Actually no Wtf. Once you account for career and education you find women make more money per hour than men do. Possibly implying there is discrimination against men in the US workforce.
Ben at December 12, 2014 1:19 PM
What I want to see is a comparison of men with kids and a working spouse versus men with kids and a non-working spouse. I'd bet the men in the first group earn less. Why? If mom is traveling, then dad has to take Jimmy to soccer, or get him from school, or stay home when he has a fever. Or even if mom isn't traveling, there's more stuff to do - groceries, cooking, laundry, etc. during the home time. That means less R&R. This is on top of what happens in all two-income houses with things like somebody having to be at home for the plumber from 10-4.
My husband could not work the hours he does if I were working full time. We are exploring my returning to part-time work, but if we do that, it will make his ability to change work-related plans on a dime shrink considerably. Right now, if his boss wants him across the country tomorrow, he can DO that. It makes him more valuable than somebody who can't. And lest anyone think this doesn't ever happen - it does. More often than I care to admit.
I'd bet men whose wives stay home earn more than those whose wives work full-time. So, if we took THEM out, say compared only single men and single women with similar years experience, etc. I'd bet the "gap" would cease to exist.
Shannon at December 13, 2014 8:31 PM
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