Gender Wage Gap Myth

"If women were paid 77 cents on the dollar, a profit-oriented firm could dramatically cut labor costs by replacing male employees with females," write Mark Perry and Andrew Biggs. But they don't, because the claimed gender wage-disparity doesn't exist.

Progressives' perpetuation of the gender wage-disparity and their proposed solution—to make it easier for women to sue employers for equal pay—are designed to enrich lawyers, not women. Worse, the authors' note, progressives' proposal would "create a disincentive for firms to hire women."  [Update: See also Scott Johnson's post, Obama's War on Science and Gullible Women.]

August 26: Women's Equality Day

President Obama proclaimed August 26 as Women's Equality Day, then promptly repeated radical feminism's favorite phony 'fact': "On average, women are paid 77 cents for every dollar paid to men." Economist Diana Furchtgott-Roth makes mincemeat of this false assertion (and others) in The Myth of Women as Economic Victims.

...if a Martian were to come down and see there were two groups of people—men and women—and one of the groups earned 58% of all Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, more than half of all PhD degrees, an equal number of medical degrees and legal degrees, had a longer life expectancy by about 5 years, had a lower unemployment rate, and fewer of this group were in jail and fewer were on drugs, they would say, oh, this must be the favored group of people.

And if that Martian then was told it is the favored group that is "discriminated against" and it is the favored group that the President wants to give affirmative action to, the Martian would just be shocked because by many, many metrics women are doing better than men.

 

Sommers: Quick Fix for Gender Wage Gap

"If today’s young women want to close the wage gap, they should change their college majors," writes Christina Hoff Sommers at AEI-Ideas. Women earned 58% of college degrees this year, but too many of them are choosing majors that pay less. She explains:

Here is a list of the ten most remunerative majors compiled by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Note that men overwhelmingly outnumber women in all but one major.

1. Petroleum Engineering: 87% Male
2. Pharmacy Pharmaceutical Sciences and Administration: 48% Male
3. Mathematics and Computer Science: 67% Male
4. Aerospace Engineering: 88% Male
5. Chemical Engineering: 72% Male
6. Electrical Engineering: 89% Male
7. Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering: 97% Male
8. Mechanical Engineering: 90% Male
9. Metallurgical Engineering: 83% Male
10. Mining and Mineral Engineering: 90% Male

And here are the 10 least remunerative majors. This time it is women who prevail in nine out of ten majors.

1. Counseling Psychology: 74% Female
2. Early Childhood Education: 97% Female
3. Theology and Religious Vocations: 34% Female
4. Human Services and Community Organization: 81% Female
5. Social Work: 88% Female
6. Drama and Theater Arts: 60% Female
7. Studio Arts: 66% Female
8. Communication Disorders Sciences and Services: 94% Female
9. Visual and Performing Arts: 77% Female
10. Health and Medical Preparatory Programs: 55% Female

Sommers argues that the gender wage gap is a consequence of women's choices — "beginning with their college majors."

UPDATE: Ms. Sommers spoke at the Conservative Women's Network on May 31, 2013. You can watch the video here.

What Gender Wage Gap?

Conventional wisdom holds that women suffer employer discrimination because they make 79 cents for every dollar men make doing the same work. Not so fast, argues June O'Neill, a former Congressional Budget Office director.

If male-female work experience is factored in, the wage "gap" decreases from 79 cents to 88.6 cents on the dollar. And if schooling level, cognitive skills, time out of the labor force for child-rearing, and type of employer are factored in, the gender wage "gap" virtually disappears, to 96.7 cents on the dollar.

Further supporting this conclusion, O'Neill finds that single women without children, on average, make 8 percent more than their similarly situated male colleagues. This suggests that it is the social pressures of being a mother and/or wife, and not employer discrimination, that drives down female wages.

For full details, see "The Disappearing Wage Gap."