Posted on 09/09/2005 9:38:04 PM PDT by neverdem
Carlsbad, Calif. — Nothing disturbs working women more than the statistics often mentioned on Labor Day showing that they are paid only 76 cents to men's dollar for the same work. If that were the whole story, it should disturb all of us; like many men, I have two daughters and a wife in the work force.
When I was on the board of the National Organization for Women in New York City, I blamed discrimination for that gap. Then I asked myself, "If an employer has to pay a man one dollar for the same work a woman would do for 76 cents, why would anyone hire a man?"
Perhaps, I thought, male bosses undervalue women. But I discovered that in 2000, women without bosses - who own their own businesses - earned only 49 percent of male business owners. Why? When the Rochester Institute of Technology surveyed business owners with M.B.A.'s from one top business school, they found that money was the primary motivator for only 29 percent of the women, versus 76 percent of the men. Women put a premium on autonomy, flexibility (25- to 35-hour weeks and proximity to home), fulfillment and safety.
After years of research, I discovered 25 differences in the work-life choices of men and women. All 25 lead to men earning more money, but to women having better lives.
High pay, as it turns out, is about tradeoffs. Men's tradeoffs include working more hours (women work more around the home); taking more dangerous, dirtier and outdoor jobs (garbage collecting, construction, trucking); relocating and traveling; and training for technical jobs with less people contact (like engineering).
Is the pay gap, then, about the different choices of men and women? Not quite. It's about parents' choices. Women who have never been married and are...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I can't believe this opinion piece was actually printed in the NYT. I suspect some editor has been fired and that it won't happen again.
Naw, snuck it in. the eds are too busy looking for ways to blame Bush for Katrina, Mayer this snuck right by them.
Warren Farrell is a cool guy in my book. He was on the Board of Directors of NOW in NYC years ago, and now is a very articulate spokesperson for men.
If the MSM wasn't blacking out the men's movement, you'd know him better than Gloria Steinem.
Yep. Warren deserves mad props for pulling off a brilliant subversion of the usual femelitist dialogue with a fundamentally and consistently male-positive message.
Very, very, very smart guy. I highly recommend his earlier books, particularly for young boys on their way to becoming men who are struggling to find their masculine identity in the midst of all this post-femelitist wussy-poopy cultural nonsense. He lays it out straight -- all the crap you knew was going on, but just couldn't put your finger on.
Yay Warren! A math professor friend, after reading "The Myth of Male Power," described the book as "necessary and sufficient" to combat feminist lies. Warren never seems to get angry. He just calmly lays out the facts.
His books are wonderful, and his seminars are fun.
http://www.warrenfarrell.com/
I have been making this point for years. If I could hire equal performance for 25% less cost for women and minorities, I would have a fantastic advantage in the market.
Forget the fact that I would also be favored by government and large scale business (Ford et al) for contracts for being woman or minority owned.
Economic arbitrage and free markets put the lie directly and immediately to these oft quoted ridiculous statistics.
Diva's Husband
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