Another protest in Wellington today - another I won't be joining.
As women are paid on average less than men, somebody has calculated that women on average are working for nothing from November 18 each year. Because they claim to be subsidising the economy to the tune of $4 billion they are going to make out an invoice for said amount and hand it over.
And who will it be made out to? Treasury should be on the list because it oversees the economy. The PM because he leads a National government that refuses to consider pay equity issues at select committee.
And of course the Salaried And Waged Men Of New Zealand who we all know have been ripping women off for centuries by taking more than their fair share of the cake.
Um. Without trying too hard it isn't difficult to come up with some invoices that might be handed back.
*An invoice for Paid Parental Leave - $135 million
*An invoice for unpaid tax on deficit earnings - $1 billion
*An invoice for the extra Super that women consume - $15 billion
*An invoice for the DPB - $2 billion
If they want to talk about "subsidising" and "the economy" none of the above invoices are any less absurd than the one that will appear today.
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4 comments:
Sounds like a waste of time protest...
It's a given that women will on average be paid less - they take time out to have children for starters (some out of the workforce for longer than others). It is for instance a no brainer that my sister in law who was a clerical worker can only get a minimum wage job after 15 years out of the workforce.
Women also have a better work life balance ethic IMO. It tends to be the men in high powered jobs who work 80 hour weeks, the women have better things to do.
The IT professionals at my work who are women (and who make up most of the management team) make the same as the guys. Surely it depends on the job. Any other comparison is meaningless. I make more than a person working in a shop, whether they are male or female. lawyers make more than me, if they are male or female.
They compare apples and oranges. In the US the average person of Japanese heritage earns more than the average person of English heritage. But it's not because of bigotry in favour of the Japanese over the English. The reasons are simple actual: Japanese Americans are older and have higher levels of education, particularly in fields where there is more demand. Age corresponds with income. Younger groups have lower incomes all other things equal.
When one compares single women and single men with similar education, wages are the same. Actually women do slightly better. What changes the average is marriage because married women tend to work fewer hours, tend to leave the workforce at some point for considerable periods of time, and tend to refuse promotions because they mean more work which infringes on their family time. All this is the result of choices the women make voluntarily.
This is smoke and mirrors meant to push for handouts to favoured feminist causes.
Dear Anonymous...when one compares single women and single men with similar education, the wages are 12% difference - per hour worked. If you add in part time work and taking time out for families, the difference in pay is more like 42%. Most of the graduates from university are women and by the end of their first year the pay gap is 8%. And 14% at the end of the 5th year. Why is that?
Check out the Ministry of Women's Affairs website and the report Indicators for Change, Oct 2008.
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