In the era of #MeToo and economic fallacies, we are routinely told that there is a gender pay gap, and reasons for this are due to sexism and the patriarchy. Yes, others roll their eyes, too.
A new study by researchers at University of Chicago, Stanford University, and Uber’s own economic team discovered a gender pay gap: male drivers earn seven percent more than female drivers. In total, female drivers earn $1.24 per hour, or $130 per week, less than men.
But is this because Uber is just a sexist organization that hates women?
Nope.
Here were some of the variables discovered by the researchers:
– Women drive fewer hours than men.
– Men are more likely to drive faster.
– Men are more likely to take on short distances.
– Men are more likely to drive longer trips.
– Women have a higher turnover rate.
Another reason that wasn’t mentioned in the study is that men are probably more likely to drive in high-risk neighborhoods.
Uber concluded in a blog post:
“[There is] no evidence that outright discrimination, either by the app or by riders, is driving the gender earnings gap.:
John List, professor of economics at the University of Chicago, chief economist at Uber, also told Freakonomics:
“Driving fast. But I also think it’s a mixture of constraints, and what I mean by that is men work more hours and take more trips than the average woman. So, why is that? Part of it is because women have more constraints — i.e, take the kid to school in the morning. Be responsible for taking Johnny to the soccer game. And I think those constraints then lead women to actually receive less experience and less learning-by-doing. So I think it’s actually a mixture of preferences and constraints. Now as policy makers, what we want to do is make sure that we can alleviate those constraints as much as possible.”
How fascinating.
How will feminists spin this?
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