UPDATE and Myths About Equal Pay -- Woman vs. Men

Well, I recently decided to take a break from the blog.

Warning: Long winded, boring story ahead. Skip to "more important things," if you're not interested.

Truth be told, I have been overwhelmed with a number of different things. Life does that to a person. I have kept busy reading, writing, and researching. I am looking forward to finishing my book and having a relaxing yet fun and active summer.

April is typically a sucky type of month for me. It seems bad news always finds its way to my door this time of year and this year was no exception.

First, I became irritated by the news in general. Everything was giving me anxiety. I found myself going through somewhat of "life-crisis." I can only describe this by stating I spent my time reevaluating my entire life, my beliefs, and my priorities. What are my goals? How will I achieve them? Where did I go wrong before? Am I happy with who I am? How do others view me? Could I have done more? Did I fail my friends and my family? Some of these questions are productive, while others are simply futile.

In 2001, April 6th I lost my mother to cancer and exactly 9 years later on the same date, I lost my mother-in-law (you divorce spouses not family), to the same thing. This year I discovered just recently my father had a heart attack. Fortunately it was mild -  he didn't even know until a week or so later. He just got additional tests done and so far everything looks as though there was minimal damage. Still, the news was something that created quite a bit of anxiety.

Mortality. We all die. I miss my mother so much. I miss my mother-in-law as well. Both of these woman were incredible. When things get complex in life, I always want my mother. It's been years and I will never stop missing her. It breaks my heart that neither of them got to meet my sweet girl - their granddaughter. I worry about being a good mom for my daughter. I don't want to die young. I want to live forever. The reality is, we don't know; we really don't know. We only know that at some point we all die. I look back on my life. I've done things, some good, some bad, and it's not good enough. I want to do more and I want to give more. I want the world to know how much love I have for everyone.

I am now also among the many in this country who lost their insurance and cannot afford the "affordable" Obamacare. Apparently I slipped between the cracks. I have been busy searching for solutions and so far everything has resulted in short-term/temporary results. I am currently stressed and this only makes it more difficult for me to focus. Finishing out this month - well, I'm currently ill. I have a sore throat, complete with allergies. Consequently, April has been somewhat of a pity party month for me.

There is good news --- I am still alive; my daughter is alive, and I have a wonderful boyfriend whom I have grown to really appreciate more and more each and everyday. Both of us are stubborn and can be difficult but it does seem the longer we work together, the more we value one another. It has only been three years but we have grown very close, even more so in the last 4 or 5 months. This has been extremely helpful for me. As much as I hate to admit it, I really do need a partner in life. I am grateful that I found someone who treats me well and loves and adores my daughter as his own. My sweet Jessica loves him in return.

...and there is your update and just some thoughts I decided to put out there.

Now onto more important things....

One story that has captured my attention is this whole whining that has been taking place over women and equal pay. It does not take but a few moments to pull up information to dispel this perpetual myth that has been injected into our culture.

The facts are simple and easy to understand for those that are interested in exploring them. The statistics that are used to support this myth that women are not receiving equal pay are those of raw numbers where no other factors are considered and held constant. According to some recent reports using these numbers people are suggesting that woman are paid almost 30 cents less per dollar compared to their male counterparts. The truth is, the discrepancy between women and men as it relates to pay is merely a few cents.

So what are the factors that cause women to be paid less? 

Well, for one, the jobs that women and men apply for. 

For the purposes of this quick article, I am going to chose a male dominated career where pay is generally considered middle class. I will also use generic numbers. This means they are not accurate; they are only used for demonstrative purposes.

Let's look at engineers. I happen to know a few male engineers who have all repeatedly told me that while they were going to school, maybe only 2 or 3 females were in their classes but they always scored top of the class. Without a doubt, women given the chance, can obtain an engineering degree and easily compete against their male peers.

After students obtain their degree they are now free to search for jobs and typically females will apply for and gain employment less demanding than males. This does not mean that the female engineer is not qualified to work in these high demanding, high paying positions, it simply means that overall women tend to gravitate toward jobs with average pay and average stress.

Women work less 

If woman actively choose jobs that are less stressful and less demanding, it follows that many of them are not going to put in 60 hours or more at a job. Many females like to work a 40 hour work week and this can prevent them from overtime pay. Many may not be interested in management positions because those typically demand more hours as well.

Another major factor to consider is that women also take more family leave. We give birth! It follows that we will need more time off and of course this means less overall pay.

Women who are already mothers are typically the first to call when their child is at school and becomes sick. Who does the nurse call? Mommy of course! When mommy has to tend to the children, it's obvious that they are going to have a bit of pay shaved off as a result.

Women may not have equal negotiating skills

This one is still under speculation but it has been observed among professionals who hire that the real discrepancy of a few cents may just boil down to women negotiating their pay when they are hired. To me, this makes sense and I do believe that if women were to focus on developing this skill those few cents would amount to zero.

You've explained the differences but I still don't understand why they are reporting women making only seventy cents for every dollar a man makes? 

This is where I will start using the general numbers for demonstrative purposes.

Bill, Carl, Mark, Susan, Megan, and Ashley all graduate and receive their degrees in engineering. There are many different areas of engineering from chemical engineer to software engineer. When numbers for male and female engineers are reported, it is rare to see the numbers broken down into these sub-categories.

Bill has no family and has always had an extreme amount of ambition. Susan is the same. Both of them apply for high paying, high demanding jobs at the same company. Bill and Susan make 300k per year with benefits. Notice that their pay is equal here. When we compare equal jobs between male and females we see that they are making equal pay.

Susan and Ashley are both engaged and are excited about starting a family. These two both go out and find great jobs but the stress is low and the pay is average. Susan works for a small private company making 60K per year and Ashley lands a stable government job, also for 60K per year.

Carl and Mark are both ambitious but they are more interested in having stable jobs with average stress, maybe just above average. They are also interested in starting a family soon so it's important that they make enough to save and buy a nice house for their families. Carl lands a job making 200K per year and Mark is doing well at 175K per year.

In this example, we see that the average male pay for engineering is 225K per year, while the females are making a medium income of only 140K. Yet, they all chose different jobs for different reasons. The two females were interested in having jobs where they would not be under high stress and would only require a 40 hour work week. However, when we look at Bill and Susan -- they are equal and that is because they have decided to take upon equal high stress, working for a major company.

Whenever we look closer, we can see that the inequality comes into play only because of individual choices that are made and typically men and women DO make different choices. The woman who made a choice equal to her male counterpart received equal pay.

Bottom line, women are doing quite well in the work force. We have had a long fight in this country in order to ensure that we have access to education, to voting, and benefits at the work place. Women indeed have achieved a certain, respectable level of equality. Denying this and distorting this fact only keeps women under the banner of victim-hood.

We are on a new plateau! It's time to shed the past and look forward to the future. We live in a country where women can vote, can be educated, and can even run our own businesses. Let us keep our fortunate position in high esteem and move forth with encouraging empowerment. Whining and complaining over past wrongs that no longer exist only creates discouragement for our future generations.