There Is No Male-Female Wage Gap

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...

The unemployment rate is consistently higher among men than among women. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 9.3% of men over the age of 16 are currently out of work. The figure for women is 8.3%. Unemployment fell for both sexes over the past year, but labor force participation (the percentage of working age people employed) also dropped. The participation rate fell more among men (to 70.4% today from 71.4% in March 2010) than women (to 58.3% from 58.8%). That means much of the improvement in unemployment numbers comes from discouraged workers—particularly male ones—giving up their job searches entirely.

Men have been hit harder by this recession because they tend to work in fields like construction, manufacturing and trucking, which are disproportionately affected by bad economic conditions. Women cluster in more insulated occupations, such as teaching, health care and service industries.

Yet if you can accept that the job choices of men and women lead to different unemployment rates, then you shouldn't be surprised by other differences—like differences in average pay.

...

The Department of Labor's Time Use survey shows that full-time working women spend an average of 8.01 hours per day on the job, compared to 8.75 hours for full-time working men. One would expect that someone who works 9% more would also earn more. This one fact alone accounts for more than a third of the wage gap.

Choice of occupation also plays an important role in earnings. While feminists suggest that women are coerced into lower-paying job sectors, most women know that something else is often at work. Women gravitate toward jobs with fewer risks, more comfortable conditions, regular hours, more personal fulfillment and greater flexibility. Simply put, many women—not all, but enough to have a big impact on the statistics—are willing to trade higher pay for other desirable job characteristics.

Men, by contrast, often take on jobs that involve physical labor, outdoor work, overnight shifts and dangerous conditions (which is also why men suffer the overwhelming majority of injuries and deaths at the workplace). They put up with these unpleasant factors so that they can earn more.

Recent studies have shown that the wage gap shrinks—or even reverses—when relevant factors are taken into account and comparisons are made between men and women in similar circumstances. In a 2010 study of single, childless urban workers between the ages of 22 and 30, the research firm Reach Advisors found that women earned an average of 8% more than their male counterparts. Given that women are outpacing men in educational attainment, and that our economy is increasingly geared toward knowledge-based jobs, it makes sense that women's earnings are going up compared to men's.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704415104576250672504707048.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Great. Another side-show we can finally stop paying attention to.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

the research firm Reach Advisors found that women earned an average of 8% more than their male counterparts.

Good thing legal prostitution is boosting the women's average wage in Nevada.

Edited April 13, 2011 by Some Old Guy

[Little_My 464]

Well. Though I am sure all this is true, that is not how a wage-gap between genders is really supposed to be measured. When we in Finland say that "A woman's euro is 80 cents", what that means is that a woman who has the exact same position with a man, with the exact same experience, in the exact same field, working the exact same hours, is on average making less than her male counterpart. Gender wage gap is supposed to measure differences in salaries that can only be attributed to gender - not experience, field, work hours or any other factor. Those should be equal, and then if there is a difference in the average wages, it can be argued that the difference is because of gender.

I am sure women are catching up, if not surpassing, men on average wages earned in many countries. I don't quite agree with the "women gravitate towards safer jobs" statement - often women have more factors to consider than men when it comes to careers - Such as pregnancy. And, no matter what the trends are currently, the fact still is than in many industries and sectors, and in many institutions - the UN, for example - the percentage of women holding the high level positions, such as executive director, assistant director, or secretary general - is extremely low. In the UN, there is a pretty good gender balance in the lower, so called "P" level pay rate positions - but at the high D-level, women hold less than 20% of those positions, and I personally do not believe that it is because "there are not enough qualified female candidates for those positions".

So - yes. I do believe that men are taking maybe a "harder hit" with this recession, and that women are often making same average salaries in general with men, or if not, they can be partly explained by the reasons given in your post. That does not mean, however, that there is no gender wage gap. There most certainly is - in the US, in Finland, in Sweden - countries that should be way beyond the point when a persons gender has any bearing whatsoever in what they earn and what kind of jobs they can be hired for.

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Not how it is supposed to be measured?

I suppose when the methodology doesn't yield the desired outcome, you pick a different methodology.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Not how it is supposed to be measured?

I suppose when the methodology doesn't yield the desired outcome, you pick a different methodology.

Isn't that the modern, politically and environmentally correct, "scientific method"?

[Little_My 464]

Not how it is supposed to be measured?

I suppose when the methodology doesn't yield the desired outcome, you pick a different methodology.

Ha. No need to get testy there. I really don't think that any woman in this world wants an outcome to show that women are discriminated against because of their gender - it is hardly the "desired outcome" I am looking for. I was merely pointing out that if looking at the average pay levels of men and women across the board, I am sure it is very true that all those points you made are true and explain a part of the possible wage difference, and that in some countries women are starting to maybe out-earn men. However, there are plenty of countries - my own, for example - where women, on average, are paid less than their male colleagues for doing the exact same job with the exact same education and the exact same experience. That is a gender wage gap - and it most definitely still exists.

Edited April 13, 2011 by Mrs.Finland-USA

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... there are plenty of countries - my own, for example - where women, on average, are paid less than their male colleagues ...

This article pertains to the United States.

It quite clearly says that once variations in how men and women approach work are controlled for, there is no wage gap.

[Jenn! 918]

This article pertains to the United States.

It quite clearly says that once variations in how men and women approach work are controlled for, there is no wage gap.

It does not state that when you compare a woman's wage for the exact same position to a man's that there is no wage gap.

[^_^ 5,021]

It does not state that when you compare a woman's wage for the exact same position to a man's that there is no wage gap.

It says there are variables beyond that like hours worked, etc. When all variables are controlled for, there is no gap.

[Jenn! 918]

It says there are variables beyond that like hours worked, etc. When all variables are controlled for, there is no gap.

That's not what it says. It says, "when relevant factors are taken into account and comparisons are made between men and women in similar circumstances." It's not the same thing.

I was clued in to some possible bias in the article by the author's use of the term "feminist": "While feminists suggest that women are coerced into lower-paying job sectors, most women know that something else is often at work. "

Edited April 13, 2011 by Jenn!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I can speak only for the positions that I have hired for thus far in my career - in various industries and at various companies. Based on that experience, I do not see where there is any supposed gender gap in terms of wages and salaries. Offers were always made based on the position level hired for and the relevant expertise the candidate brought to the table. There has never been any consideration in terms of gender - or national origin or skin color or whatever. No such thing. I can't say that I have ever noticed salary offers to female candidates being lower than salary offers made to male candidates.

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I don't see it where I work either. Yes, women in IT here generally settle for the lifestyle jobs (business analysis, anyone?) while the incident management staff is all male. There are literally no women on the on-call rotation.

[Jenn! 918]

I really don't have any first-hand data to reference, but I would bet that a wage gap exists. And I think it's mostly if not entirely explainable by men tending to have superior negotiation skills.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I really don't have any first-hand data to reference, but I would bet that a wage gap exists. And I think it's mostly if not entirely explainable by men tending to have superior negotiation skills.

You are not married, are you...