Submitted by Marc A., May 1, 2007 00:58

I'm responding to Kistjan Wager's comments.

"When we look at absolute numbers, women earn 44% less than men, and when we take other variables (like number of hours worked, years of experience) into consideration, women earn 21% less than men. Other research has shown that there is "only" a 12% wage gap that can't be explained by differences in work patterns etc. No matter if the wage gap is 12% or 21%, it is not acceptable that people who do the same work gets paid different wages."

So you admit the figure is actually 12%. That's a good start. The AAUW report said 25% of the 20% gap is not explanable, so that makes it 5%. But regardless of whether it's 12% or 5%, the 77% figure is totally exagerated, and it's likely even the 12% or 5% figures are based on factors we're not considering. Warren Farrell, in "Why Men Earn More," gives 25 different non-discriminatory factors that involve work-life choices made by men and women that lead to men earning more and women having more balanced lives. When these factors are considered, the gap disappears. And if you say "it is not acceptable that people who do the same work get paid different wages," then what about all the careers Warren Farrell lists in which women get paid more than men for the same work? http://www.ajc.com/services/content/business/stories/2007/04/24/bizpaygap0424a.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=6

Field....................Women......Men

Sales engineers..........$89,908....$62,660

Radiation therapists ....$59,124....$53,300
Financial analysts ......$69,004....$58,604
Tool and dye makers......$46,228....$40,144
Petroleum engineering....$61,540....$57,156
Physics..................$46,290....$39,772
Journalism ..............$28,600....$27,624
(merger & acquisitions)..$56,667....$48,667
Bioengineering ..........$52,750....$52,500
Urban/regional planning..$43,850....$38,372

Warren also showed that never-married, childless women earn more than never-married, childless men. The bottom line is that the so-called "pay gap" reflects the fact that women have more options than men. They can choose to work full time, choose to work part time, or choose to be full time parimary parents. And many women still look for men who are primary breadwinners so they can make that very decision. Men still don't have that as an option much. They're either primary breadwinners or on the streets. So it's no wonder they make 85% of homeless, 90% of prisoners and 92% of occupational deaths. They don't have much other choice.

The arguments made by Wager are refuted by Warren Farrell in "Why Men Earn More."

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