April 10 - Equal Work Day

Submitted by Matt on Thu, 2014-04-10 04:50

http://www.work-equality.org/

'According to the latest statistics from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), men in the United States worked for pay for an average of 308 minutes per day in 2013, as compared with 242 minutes per day for women. That's the equivalent of 1,874 hours per year for men versus 1,472 hours for women. Based on these numbers, Equal Work Day will fall on April 10, 2014 in the US. Similar results can be found in Canada and many other nations.

Certainly this is not the complete story. These same statistics show that women spend more time on unpaid work*, reporting that they do more housework and spend more time on childcare than men do. There will be plenty of women viewing this page who work 50, 60 hours a week or more, as well as men who work fewer hours than their partners.

Over the past 30 years, a picture has been painted by the media in the US of a sexist workplace that deprives women of the opportunity to compete fairly in the job market. Certainly there was a time when this was true. But is it still true? Some arguments and statistics around pay equality avoid significant aspects of the choices that men and women make voluntarily. This is an important subject to study further - but no one statistic or sound bite can adequately cover the subject.'

Like0 Dislike0

Comments

There is truth to saying that at one time men were intentionally paid more than women. And married men were paid more than bachelors. The reason was because the man had responsibility for supporting a family. His money was, in effect, not his but his family's. This same attitude is found in child support and alimony laws today: the man's money can be taken from him and given to her to meet his obligations. And education was often reserved for a son because he would grow up to support a wife and family and his parents. The man had obligations to others; the woman rarely did.

Even today a lot of women believe his money is our money and her money is her money. Society still expects men to support their children but not women to support theirs. Thus, if dad can't pay support, he's put in jail. If mom can't, she's given welfare. Thus, if a woman is given a job instead of man, the man may end up going to jail or becoming a new child support slave with a GPS bracelet to keep him on track. If the woman doesn't get the job, she'll likely get public benefits.

Women have received the right to work and earn money but not been given the obligation to use that money for others. Further, the mass entrance of women into the labor market lowered the value of labor. At one time, a man could support a family with one job; now it often takes two people. That means a lot of kids are raised by daycare workers.

I have no problem with equal pay for equal work, but with equal pay should also come equal responsibilities. In fact, of course, the so-called "wage gap" is often used to justify the unequal responsibilities between men and women.

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by el cid on Thu, 2014-04-10 13:20