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According to unadjusted Census Bureau data, for every dollar earned by men, women earn only 83 cents.
Known as the Gender Wage Gap, and often cited as evidence of sex discrimination, does further analysis support or refute it?
As a father of two adult daughters who work outside the home, I am personally invested in the answer.
Using unadjusted data, the statement is correct, but the gap disappears when additional factors are considered.
Voluntary life choices made by both men and women also impact wage earnings. After taking account of these, the gap virtually disappears.
Specifically, full time men work an average of two hours per week more than women -- which accounts for 4 cents of the gap.
Full time is defined as 35 hours or more per week.
Men have three years more experience than women, which accounts for another 5 cents.
This is probably due to time away for child rearing -- as unmarried women do not show this gap.
Women tend to choose lower-paying occupations which, according to Baruch College (CUNY), accounts for 3 cents.
A Georgetown study of college majors found that men tend to choose the 10 highest-paying ones and women the ten lowest paying ones.
In total, hours worked, years on the job, selection of occupation, and educational choices (high school, college, graduate school, and college majors) explain all but 1.5 cents of the Gender Pay Gap.
Further, wage growth for women steadily exceeded the wage growth for men since 1967, closing and reducing the unadjusted gap by 60%.
The decline began with the Baby Boomers, continued with Generation X, the Millennial Generation, and continues with Generation Z.
The decline occurred as younger generations of women selected higher-paying careers and as older women with
lower-paying jobs retired.
The small residual gap that still exists can be attributed to legacy choices made by older women still in the workforce.
The future is especially bright for women, including my daughters.
Nobel Laureate economist Gary Becker (University of Chicago) predicted this outcome.
"The data show that differences in earnings by men and women arise quite naturally from the operation of a competitive market in which individuals make choices according to their preferences and resources.
If employers could, in fact, hire women at 83 cents on the dollar for the same job, women would have all the jobs they wanted and no unemployment.
Only extreme discriminators would pass up a bargain like that, and they would shortly go out of business."
Sex discrimination is bad for business.
Skeptics and those curious will find this data in "The Myth of American Income Inequality" by Phillip Gramm, et.al, Chapter 5.
Our challenge as voters is to not be misled by politicians who seek to gain favor with some of us by emphasizing a non-existent gap while creating envy between us.
Gable is a periodical contributor to the Mirror's Opinion page. He resides in Altoona.