Comments on: The Truth About the Gender Pay Gap http://www.eqsq.com/vivreladifference/2008/03/11/the-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/ Vivre La Difference Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:30:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Tim Worstall http://www.eqsq.com/vivreladifference/2008/03/11/the-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/#comment-17578 Tim Worstall Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:26:31 +0000 http://eqsq.com/vivreLaDifference/the-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap.html#comment-17578 That waiting table thing works in the US: but not in the UK really, as tipping is really rather rare. I think it's rather to do with the well known and observable fact that teenage girls are more mature than teenage boys. The gap in hte 20s is I think that some women have indeed had children then but also that those who have not, might: and this colours the way in which employers trreat them. Less training, for example, becaue of the risk that they might then go and take those several years breaks. I mkust emphasis though that I'm not saying that it is a good thing that this happens: far from it, only that it's rational: in that everyone concerned is acting rationally given the incentives they face. That waiting table thing works in the US: but not in the UK really, as tipping is really rather rare. I think it’s rather to do with the well known and observable fact that teenage girls are more mature than teenage boys.
The gap in hte 20s is I think that some women have indeed had children then but also that those who have not, might: and this colours the way in which employers trreat them. Less training, for example, becaue of the risk that they might then go and take those several years breaks.
I mkust emphasis though that I’m not saying that it is a good thing that this happens: far from it, only that it’s rational: in that everyone concerned is acting rationally given the incentives they face.

]]> By: lucy http://www.eqsq.com/vivreladifference/2008/03/11/the-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/#comment-17158 lucy Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:56:58 +0000 http://eqsq.com/vivreLaDifference/the-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap.html#comment-17158 My interpretation: Teen girls earn more than teen boys because more teen girls wait tables while more boys wash dishes or otherwise work for minimum wage. Guys like to go to restaurants and have pretty girls wait on them, which is why restaurants hire more young females than males. And, of course, guys tip pretty young girls generously. By the time they hit their 20s (when pay gap is 3.3%), young men are beginning more lucrative careers than dish washing. Young women are entering professional careers, too, but they are not being paid as much as men. Why the relatively low pay gap here? Because many of women continue to wait tables, or perhaps they’ve moved onto bartending, and in reality, many servers and bartenders make more money than entry-level professionals (was true for me). In their 30s, yes, women often have babies. I won’t argue with that. But what happens in their 40s? Perhaps because women took time off to stay with babies, they’re less qualified, etc. But this Reuters article, http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2029109620070423?pageNumber=1, says that’s not it: “If a woman and a man make the same choices, will they receive the same pay?” a study (by the American University Women Educational Foundation) asked. “The answer is no.” The researchers find no other explanation than discrimination. My interpretation: Teen girls earn more than teen boys because more teen girls wait tables while more boys wash dishes or otherwise work for minimum wage. Guys like to go to restaurants and have pretty girls wait on them, which is why restaurants hire more young females than males. And, of course, guys tip pretty young girls generously. By the time they hit their 20s (when pay gap is 3.3%), young men are beginning more lucrative careers than dish washing. Young women are entering professional careers, too, but they are not being paid as much as men. Why the relatively low pay gap here? Because many of women continue to wait tables, or perhaps they’ve moved onto bartending, and in reality, many servers and bartenders make more money than entry-level professionals (was true for me).

In their 30s, yes, women often have babies. I won’t argue with that. But what happens in their 40s? Perhaps because women took time off to stay with babies, they’re less qualified, etc. But this Reuters article, http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2029109620070423?pageNumber=1, says that’s not it: “If a woman and a man make the same choices, will they receive the same pay?” a study (by the American University Women Educational Foundation) asked. “The answer is no.” The researchers find no other explanation than discrimination.

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