It's Choice, Not Discrimination
There's a working paper by Valentin Bolotnyy, a Ph.D. candidate in econ at Harvard, and a colleague, "Why Do Women Earn Less Than Men? Evidence from Bus and Train Operators."
The abstract:
Even in a unionized environment, where work tasks are similar, hourly wages are identical, and tenure dictates promotions, female workers earn $0.89 on the male-worker dollar (weekly earnings).We use confidential administrative data on bus and train operators from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to show that the weekly earnings gap can be explained entirely by the workplace choices that women and men make.
Women value time and flexibility more than men. Women take more unpaid time off using the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and work fewer overtime hours than men.
Men and women plan to work similar overtime hours when they are scheduled three months in advance, but men actually work nearly 50% more overtime hours than women.
Women with dependents value time away from work more than do men with dependents. When selecting work schedules, women try to avoid weekend, holiday, and split shifts more than men.
To avoid unfavorable work times, women prioritize their schedules over route safety and select routes with a higher probability of accidents.
Women are less likely than men to game the scheduling system by trading off work hours at regular wages for overtime hours at premium wages. Conditional on seniority, which dictates choice sets, the weekly earnings gap can be explained entirely by differences in operator choices of hours, schedules, and routes.
So, yes, there's a pay gap -- and it has nothing, specifically, to do with being female and everything to do with the choices many women tend to make.
I wrote about this in a recent column.
via @MargRev
A few days ago there was one of those vaguely feminist articles about how difficult it was for women to find comfortable but attractive work shoes, and I imagined looking up the ratio of men to women suffering grievous foot injuries at work.
I didn't look up the stats, though, because it was the internet, and that place is a sewer.
Crid at November 2, 2018 11:40 PM
Hold on, men are manipulating the system to get more overtime hours, but are only being paid $0.11/hour more?
Seems...short somehow. Unless they're not getting time and a half.
I R A Darth Aggie at November 3, 2018 5:52 AM
This subject has been studied ad nauseum and the differences always come down to freely made choices and the fact that these result in significant disparities in the fundamental factors determining wage and salary compensation.
Claims to the contrary are simply lies - if they weren't we'd see many more successful discrimination suits.
And also the differences are not due to childcare , or maternity leave, or transportation, or free tampons, or whatever other factor people want to blame them on. In fact, in countries where these factors are compensated with generous paid subsidies and allowances, the differences are even greater - women work even less once you alleviate those costs.
This is why 'equal pay' initiates are so dishonest. They're not trying to alleviate discrimination, they're trying to mandate that employers pay women more than men for less work.
lies all lies at November 3, 2018 8:47 AM
IME, if you tell these feminists that instead of blaming others for their failings, they should take responsibility for their own actions; Every.Single.Time you'll receive a very virulent response.
Sixclaws at November 3, 2018 12:17 PM
When our kids were little, if my wife stayed home she got criticized and if she worked she got criticized--usually different people. There are trade-offs in life,something that the Left simply denies. And if women make choices that the Left does not approve of, like having children or loving their husband or staying home with the kids, then it obviously was the patriarchy both brain-washing and forcing them to do those things. Ask the husbands who decided to quit their job and stay home--it was the wife. Feminists seem to be insisting that women are weak-minded and easily brain washed.
cc at November 3, 2018 1:37 PM
> There are trade-offs in life,
> something that the Left simply
> denies.
Okay, but the pattern of infantilism isn't only on the left.
Y'know... Who on Earth imagines that they could, let alone should, choose a path in life in which they would not face criticism?
Being surprised by those who reject your path, or even are mildly put off by it, is a considerable percentage of the pleasure in a social life.
Crid at November 3, 2018 8:17 PM
My friend, a teacher, recently left a job for one at a new school.
The principal at the old school asked her why she missed so many faculty meetings (after school hours) and she explained she had three kids. He replied, "So do I!" and then said pointedly to her, "My wife watches them".
NicoleK at November 5, 2018 4:43 AM
Cc, I totally feel guilty for letting the left down and staying at home... but I love it. And if I was working I'd be accused of exploiting someone to look after my kids and white privilege or something... someone is always going to criticise so you might as well do what you enjoy.
NicoleK at November 5, 2018 4:49 AM
Leave a comment