
The truth about the gender wage gap (2017) - shawndumas
http://www.vox.com/2016/8/1/12108126/gender-wage-gap-explained-real
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11thEarlOfMar
If we take this at face value:

"As Goldin put it in her speech, "The gender gap in pay would be considerably
reduced and might even vanish if firms did not have an incentive to
disproportionately reward individuals who worked long hours and worked
particular hours.""

This does not violate equal pay for equal work, because it implies there is
unequal work. A company is going to look at accomplishment as a guide for whom
to promote, and in general, a worker who works more hours is going to
accomplish more. It's self evident, but it paints a picture that is cast in a
different light than 'the gender gap' which we (including I) infer to mean an
unfair bias against women.

It's going to be really tricky to solve. Do we tell men and women they must
work the same number of hours? Or do we tell companies they must promote and
pay men and women the same, regardless of how many hours each works? Or they
must promote such that the executive ranks, or overall pay, is shared to some
target equanimity?

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ng12
Why do we need to solve it? Male or female, childcare is a burden. If I
refused to work more than 40 hours a week because I decided I need to spend as
much time underwater basket weaving as possible I can't claim shenanigans when
the guy putting in 60 hours a week gets promoted over me.

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gozur88
No, it doesn't make any sense, but that is indeed what they're trying to
claim.

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johngalt
I despise the subtle shifting of definitions:

> The highest-paying jobs disproportionately reward those who can work the
> longest, least flexible hours. These types of job penalize workers who have
> caregiving responsibilities outside the workplace. Those workers tend to be
> women.

It's not a penalty if people who sacrifice more get paid more. You might even
call it _fair_.

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eveningcoffee
And yet it is another way around.

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maxcan
tl;dr people who are able and willing to work more demanding schedules will
earn more than those who aren't and that correlates with gender and having
children.

in other news, the sky is blue, housing in S.F. sucks, and computers are
useful.

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Neliquat
Seems like the same old gap=kids explaination to me...

And the only suggestion is make all hours equally valuable? Right after I get
rid of 'prime time', 'rush hour', and the solar cycle, I will focus on that.
Wtf.

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leereeves
What's changed in this article since it was first published in August 2016?

