Well, this is more bad news for the feminist movement that thinks there is a patriarchal conspiracy.
Despite the myriad of evidence to suggest that there isn’t some nefarious scheme being perpetuated against women, and that the 23-cent pay gap is merely a myth, feminists continue to spout the nonsense.
Once again, we have evidence that any gender earnings gap at the workplace can be explained by preferences, not discrimination, according to a Harvard job market paper by Valentin Bolotnyy, and co-authored with Natalia Emanuel, titled, “Why Do Women Earn Less Than Men? Evidence from Bus and Train Operators.”
Here is a key excerpt (emphasis ours):
“Even in a unionized environment, where work tasks are similar, hourly wages are identical, and tenure dictates promotions, female workers earn $0.89 on the male-worker dollar (weekly earnings). We use confidential administrative data on bus and train operators from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to show that the weekly earnings gap can be explained entirely by the workplace choices that women and men make. Women value time and flexibility more than men. Women take more unpaid time off using the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and work fewer overtime hours than men. Men and women plan to work similar overtime hours when they are scheduled three months in advance, but men actually work nearly 50% more overtime hours than women. Women with dependents value time away from work more than do men with dependents. When selecting work schedules, women try to avoid weekend, holiday, and split shifts more than men. To avoid unfavorable work times, women prioritize their schedules over route safety and select routes with a higher probability of accidents. Women are less likely than men to game the scheduling system by trading off work hours at regular wages for overtime hours at premium wages. Conditional on seniority, which dictates choice sets, the weekly earnings gap can be explained entirely by differences in operator choices of hours, schedules, and routes.”
There you have it. Women value time and flexibility, take more time off, and clock in fewer overtime hours.
Men are not sitting in big leather chairs smoking cigars and deciding to pay women less.
(H/T Carpe Diem)
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