The debate over the gender wage gap has been raging for a very long time, likely dating back to when Rebekah earned fewer shekels for hauling water than did Isaac for herding goats. We’ve all heard that a woman earns about 80 cents for every buck made by a guy. In fact, the AFL-CIO, citing a government report, devotes an entire section of its Web site to remedies for pay discrimination.
But what if, like so many other statistics, this one doesn’t tell the full story? What if you factor in things that men are more likely to do at work that lead to greater financial rewards? Admittedly, these practices read like the Office Handbook From Hell: clock longer hours, relocate to undesirable places, travel extensively, and toil under crummy conditions (think North Sea oil rigs). Companies, desperate to attract workers to fill such jobs, tend to offer higher pay. Men are more likely to take the bait — and reap the rewards.
Then consider the evidence that until kids enter the picture, women earn as much as men — and often even more. Don’t believe it? Check the census data on earnings of never-married men and women. Women don’t hit an income gap until family responsibilities factor into job choices. That’s typically when men agree to take on more onerous work in an attempt to be better providers, and women back off from such tasks in an effort to be more available to the kids.
“The wage gap is not about corporate discrimination but about the division of labor that happens when men and women have children,” says Warren Farrell, author of Why Men Earn More: The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gap — and What Women Can Do About It (AMACOM, January 2005). “The biggest misconception is that there’s a wage gap for the same work.”
