Sunday, June 27, 2010

Do women really earn less than men?

Based on the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women earn 80 cents for every dollar men earn.  From a young female perspective, like myself, of course this is not fair for the same work we do to earn less.  At my current work, we have workshop to help women build their stage at work to be more prominence in the work stage - meaning to catch up to the men. 

There are many studies to reason why women got pay less - it is rooted from the difference in social roles, women are perceived weaker in the work force, women doesn't take enongh credit for their achievement, men are more aggressive in asking for a raise etc.
Let's assumed men are more aggressive in asking for a raise is true but why?  An interesting thought came to my mind.  Perhaps, men have a larger expense that forces them to look for higher salary.  Let's be honest.  Though women fought for equality for so long.  We will never be equal.  Men are still expected to pay for the meal on a date; to give girls a ride (girls passed their teenager stage - will you date a guy without a car?); to buy drinks for girls in a bar.  Men are still wanting to be the provider in the household though half of the North America work force are women.  All these expectation assumed by the society on men, still to this day, may be the reason why men has a higher salary.  They need a bigger salary to sustain themselves.

Who is the beneficiary of the extra expenses of men?  Would it be women?  They got a few free meals throughout the year, a few free drinks in the bar, receive presents from the guys they dated etc.  Are these freebies we have to pay by a lower salary?

Afterall, as my mom always told me, "there's no free lunch, honey".



Image adapted from time.com