During the debate Wednesday night, Kerry brought up an oldie but a goody for donks-the gender wage gap. Kerry stated that women make $.76 for every dollar men make. I despise this statistic because it doesn't take into affect choices many women make that influence their earnings, like being stay at home mothers, or choosing jobs with scheduling flexibility (usually lower paying) over demanding career paths (higher paying) in order to take care of their families. I have the utmost respect for women who try to devote themselves to both their family and careers; it's a tough job, a demanding job, and it occupies so much of many women's' lives. I just don't think it can be debated that these decisions have much more to do with any wage gap than institutionalized gender bias in the work place. I tend to agree with this article which appeared at National Review Online and the Independent Women's Forum. They quote a study, without citing the source, that shows when decisions within women's power are factored in, the gap falls to 2 cents. The article also uses strong logic to say that if women really were performing the same jobs for less, their would be a boom of demand in the labor market for female employees which would ultimately drive up their rates. After all, in today's day and age, the bottom line is all that matters, and cheaper labor at the same quality is something all companies strive for.
Here's what I'd like from the readership of Jiblog. I'm open to the fact that I'm just plain wrong. Please provide me with studies and hard data that proves that I am wrong, and I will change my opinion. I think there is a certain woman in my life who would like very much for me to admit that I'm wrong on this, to say that there is gender discrimination which accounts for that entire 26 cent gap. Until I see proof though, I'm going to continue in my belief that Kerry quoted politically biased stats
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