Feminist Math
Mrs. X is a registered independent so she gets all the Democrat junk mail I don’t get. One of my faves was a mailer alleging that Women Are Paid Just 77 Cents for Every Dollar a Man Makes (caps theirs, oddly enough). Aside from the inherent irony of Obama raising that issue against McCain, does anyone seriously believe this crap? And if they do, why aren’t they all running out and starting businesses of their own that pay 85% of the going rate for men? No men would apply for those jobs, of course, but no matter; equally qualified women currently working for competitors would eagerly jump ship for an easy 10% raise, and your payroll expenses would still undercut the competition’s by 15%.
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:22 am
These would be the feminists who “prove” beyond the shadow of a doubt that “girls can’t do math.”
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:40 pm
You want to really upset a feminist? Point out that in the Bible, the number was 3/5, or 60c. In 1980, when Carter was President, the number was 59c. In 1988, the number was 72c.
So Ronald Reagan is responsible for the largest advancement of women’s income in history.
November 3rd, 2008 at 6:28 pm
There is a not-insignificant number of women who just know (or at least, really suspect) they’re being screwed by the man, so yes, this works as a campaign plank.
And yes, while economically it might make sense to go start the business you advocate, why should they have to quit their jobs? Shouldn’t they have the right to get paid the same as the man? Why is the burden on them and not the company to do the right thing?
And yes, I know the distortions the 77 cents involves, so save the lessons.
November 3rd, 2008 at 6:33 pm
My recollection is that the number is “true but inaccurate”.
True in that if you graph women vs. men at a given age in the same industry, you’ll get about that relation.
False in that if you correct for time spent working rather than age, you’ll get much closer to 1:1.
The reason being that women are far more likely to take time off to start a family than men are.
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Sigivald,
I’ve heard that the 77% is also influenced by the choice of profession. Engineers make more than social workers, that sort of thing. Male-dominated professions have higher pay, which leads to the pink collar professions.
November 4th, 2008 at 2:31 am
Bargaining. Period. Women don’t ask for as much salary as they think they’re entitled to OR as much as they can actually live on as they expect to because they don’t like to bargain and they’re afraid they won’t get offered the job if they ask too high. They guess. And they guess low.
Anwyn´s last blog post..Et Tu, James