Editor:
This Tuesday, April 4, is equal pay day. Equal pay day is the day when women’s earnings add up to men’s earnings from the previous year. It may sound like something to celebrate, but it is in reality something that many women do not want to celebrate. Actually, it is something that nobody should have to celebrate (“A Newsroom Without Women,” March 16). On average, for every dollar a white man earns, a white woman earns 78 cents, an African-American woman earns 62 cents, and a Latina woman earns 54 cents.
Many large corporations pay men more than women, with reasons like “men are physically stronger and therefore work harder” or “women have to take time off to have children, so they are not as dedicated to their jobs.” Both of these claims are absurd, as men should not be labeled as “physically strong” and women should not be labeled as “physically weak.” In addition, it doesn’t make sense to blame women for needing to take time off to have children. It is a personal choice to have a child and taking time off is not only a lawful right, but also a fundamental need.
Everyone should have equal pay, no matter their gender, race, ethnicity or other attributes. The good news is that this year equal pay day is earlier than it has been in the past. In 2016, April 12 was Equal Pay Day, while in 2010 it was April 20. This means that, however slowly, women’s earnings are beginning to catch up with men’s. However, we still have a long way to go. It is estimated that it won’t be until 2052 that pay is equal for everyone. In the meantime, there are many organizations fighting for equal pay, and many people working hard to achieve it.
Eva Swartz, Arcata
This article appears in Past Lives of the Coral Sea.
Re: “On average, for every dollar a white man earns, a white woman earns 78 cents”
Forgive me, Eva, but you do not know what this means.
Please see: “Womens 77 cents to mens dollar: What it really means” http://malemattersusa.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/womens-77-cents-to-mens-dollar-what-it-really-means/
Answer this:
Women’s advocates insist employers everywhere pay women less than men for doing exactly the same work in the exact same occupations and careers.
Yet these advocates also seem to think employers’ prime modus operandi is greed. (“Corporate greed” may be one of the Left’s more salient rallying calls.) Thus they no doubt believe employers would hire only illegal immigrants for their lower labor cost if they could get away with it (many do get away with it), or would move their business to a cheap-labor country to save money, or would replace old workers with young ones for the same reason.
So why do these same feminist activists and women’s advocates think employers would NOT hire only women if, as they say, employers DO get away with paying females at a lower rate than males for the same work?
Many of America’s most sophisticated women choose to earn less than their male counterparts:
“Female physicians worked about 5 hours fewer per week than their male counterparts through age 54….” https://www.aamc.org/download/426242/data/ihsreportdownload.pdf?cm_mmc=AAMC-_-ScientificAffairs-_-PDF-_-ihsreport
In 2011, 22% of male physicians and 44% of female physicians worked less than full time, up from 7% of men and 29% of women from Cejkas 2005 survey. ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/03/26/bil10326.htm
“…[O]nly 35 percent of women who have earned MBAs after getting a bachelors degree from a top school are working full time.” It “is not surprising that women are not showing up more often in corporations top ranks.” http://malemattersusa.wordpress.com/2014/04/25/why-women-are-leaving-the-workforce-in-record-numbers/
“Compared to men, women view professional advancement as equally attainable, but less desirable” http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/09/15/1502567112.full.pdf
See the real reasons the wage gap hasn’t closed after thousands of measures over many decades:
“Salary Secrecy Discrimination Against Women?” http://malemattersusa.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/salary-secrecy-discrimination-against-women/
Hello Jerry. I found your argument fascinating, but I find your claim that “many of America’s most sophisticated women choose to earn less than their male counterparts” ridiculous. Why in the world would someone choose to earn less? I read the articles that you provided the links to, but found that, while they do support your claim, two of them focus on the same subject, female physicians. The article about how 35 percent of women who have earned MBA’s is also fascinating, but could it be possible that women feel pressured to do so? After all, it is a blatant fact that women don’t get paid as much as men. Is that something to look forwards to after getting out of college?
Further more, although I did do my research, I would like to inform you that I am 13 years old, and I wrote this letter as part of my school community project. Thank you for your opinions, as well as the links to those articles.
-Eva Swartz
I would also like to point out that most of your links are to “malematters.usa”. The top of the website page says “The ‘male side’ to gender issues”. I doubt that this website is fully taking in the views of women.