Why don’t women get paid the same as men?

I am suspicious of the gender pay gap. I suspect that there is some key information missing from the story.

If you have a woman cleaning your house or a man, do you pay them differently? I don’t. From my perspective, all that matters is that the house is cleaned. Who cleans it; the colour of their skin; the religion they observe; their sexual preference and so on, mean absolutely nothing. And frankly the same is true of office workers.

However, in the corporate world, there are other criteria that are factored into the pay formula. The number of hours worked; experience; time off for maternity and other leave; education; non-educational skills and more.

Female workers generally work less hours because they tend to be the primary home makers and child carers. This factor must be kept in mind when interpreting the wage ratio. And whether we like it or not, men are often freer to pursue their career goals unhindered by family obligations if they so choose.

That doesn’t mean that there aren’t exceptions.

In 2009 David R. Hekman, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, and colleagues found that customers prefer white men over equally-well performing women and minority employees, which may help explain why white men continue to earn more than other types of employees.

Similarly, economist and social critic Thomas Sowell stated in the book, Civil Rights, marriage is the main variable driving the wage gap -- that married women make less than other types of workers.

Any disparity that exists between the wages earned by men and women can be accounted for by women's demand for flexibility, fewer hours, and less travel in their careers.
The truth is that the gender wage gap is a by-product of professional women who want it all. They have good educations and professional experience. However, they have other priorities besides making money. They want job flexibility and personal-life fulfilment more than men do. Men are more likely to measure their self worth based on money and their pay cheques. They are willing to spend more hours in the office and they are willing to do many physically demanding jobs that most women would never consider.

There will always be exceptions to the informal rules because there are always people who have different motivations. But the bottom line is that most people – men and women – fit into the traditional categories.

However, the women’s movement has made a place for itself in western society by never being satisfied. What opportunities don’t women have in the Western world? They can go to medical school, they can dig ditches, they can become police officers, they can stay at home. They can work full or part-time. But each choice they make comes with a financial price tag. Each decision has rewards and consequences. The wonderful thing about our society, is that each person can choose to work – and get paid -- according to their priorities. I suspect that individual freedom of choice in the western world has never been higher.

Kathy MacKeigan
Newcastle