"Women still earn about 77 cents for every dollar a man earns for working the same job"

I'm glad to see some mainstream criticism of gender and pay discrepancy claims.

from the article:

"The 77-cent figure compares the median pay of all full time, year-round male and female workers, regardless of occupation."

and this:

[quote]

"One of the big factors explaining why women earn less than men is that jobs typically done by women have lower earnings than jobs typically done by men," said Ariane Hegewisch, study director at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
A 2009 analysis by the nonpartisan CONSAD Research Corp. in Pittsburgh concluded that three-fourths of the disparity can be explained by trends common to women:

they tend to choose occupations that have relatively low wages;

they tend to have degrees leading to lower-paying occupations than men;

they tend to have a shorter work history; and

they take more time off from work for childbirth and child care.

The American Association for University Women issued a report this year that offered similar explanations for the pay gap, saying it is partly due to "men’s and women’s choices, especially the choice of college major and the type of job pursued after graduation."

[end quote]

It seems to me that the teaching profession always comes up in these sort of discussions (I did not pull the quote, but it is mentioned in the article), while I cannot find much proof that teaching is a low paying job. I wonder if the whole benefit package and actual hours worked is ever considerred. Teachers work 9 months out of the year, although they claim to work lots of extra hours at home, I have never seen any proof of this, and they often have a generous retirement plan. Teachers also have a lot of grants available for free travel and "extracurricular activities" in the summertime. Last time I was at the airport I sat next to a group of teachers on a fully funded "educational trip" to Europe, I happened to mention this to my parents and my dad then mentioned that when they were on their African safari trip, they were with teachers from the USA said to be on an "educational sabbatical"; and my cousin who is a teacher confirmed that in teacher newsletters there are many opportunities for free travel for teachers.

Teachers seem to have it pretty good, yet always complaining of low pay.

" I wonder if the whole benefit package and actual hours worked is ever considerred."

It is my understanding that the 77 figure is purely salary, and in no way accounts for hours worked. As to benefits, I do not believe they are ver accounted for, except in the most critical of breakdowns, and even many of them don't appear to account for it. The last thing I am positive is NEVER accounted for his transfers of wealth from child support. We are often told that having a child puts women at a disadvantage career wise and should be compensated for, but the compensation that already exists, through child support obligations, is never considered.

These are ways women are compensated but rarely considered:

Dating (man usually pays)

Marriage (man usually pays more)

Child support/alimony (about 90% of both go to women)

Welfare (about 90% goes to single mothers)

Social security (men pay more into the system but take out less because they die sooner)