Member-only story
Women, Work, and the Facade of Choice
Women can’t “choose” to earn less than men if they aren’t given the same options
I’ve been told recently that the wage gap doesn’t exist.
Since I am capable of doing simple math, I looked it up, and yes, $41,554 (the average woman’s salary in the U.S.) divided by $51,640 (the average man’s salary in the U.S.) results in a ratio of 80:100 or 80 percent.
What that means is, on average, women earn 20 percent less than men. (This discrepancy increases as we factor in race, with black women earning 37 percent less and Latina women earning 46 percent less than white men.)
What it doesn’t mean, necessarily, is that women earn 20+ percent less than men for working the exact same job.
Yes, there are plenty of fields where women are paid less than men for performing the same job. But even if that isn’t the case across the board, women are still paid less than men on average. Why?
There are several ways the choices women make might not be as free as we think.
The most common explanation for the 20-percent wage gap, and the reason many people feel comfortable claiming it doesn’t exist, is…