Why Men Earn More Than Women

Farrell, W. (2005) Why Mean Earn More: The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gap — and What Women Can Do About It. New York: American Management Association.[Amazon UK | Amazon US]

In a book sure to rile up those on both sides of the argument about equal pay for equal work, Warren Farrell argues that lower pay for women is primarily a result of their career choices, choices which tend to favour quality of life over earning money — while men tend to make the opposite choices, favouring money over quality of life. (And just before the flames of controversy begin, take note: a highly respected ‘thought leader’, Farrell is the only man ever to have been elected three times to the board of the National Organization for Women in New York City; we’re not talking about some ultra-conservative nut.) Farrell backs up his arguments both with real live empirical data from the US government and other sources, and with solid reasoning.

In an interview with columnist Marty Nemko, who reviewed Farrell’s work for Bankrate.com, Farrell comments on whether pay differences were simply down to sexism: “There are instances of discrimination against both women and men, but on average, no. If you knew you could hire a woman for less than an equivalent man, you’d hire women to get a price advantage over your competition. Do you think businesses so hate women that they hire more expensive men even though they’d lose so much money?” In other words, it doesn’t make economic sense that — for a given quantity of work — businesses would deliberately pay more just to have a man perform that work. As much as this line of thought may grate on politically correct sensibilities, it seems to me difficult to find an obvious fault with it.

Farrell advises that women can earn more if they do things like choose jobs in unpleasant environments, work longer hours, and accept higher physical or financial risk, and become more productive during the hours they are working.

I like Marty Nemko’s conclusion about the book, especially the last sentence:

In reflecting on Farrell’s book, I wonder if, rather than denigrating men for earning more, we should respect them for their willingness to do unpleasant, but necessary, work that few women will do such as roofing, coal mining or guarding a prison — often working themselves into an early grave. There are four widows for every widower.

And men, you might learn a lesson from women and consider trading money for quality of life.

Following are some further comments from another review and from the book’s publisher…

From Publishers Weekly:

Why do men earn more than women? Because they deserve to, argues this contrarian challenge to feminist conventional wisdom. Men work longer hours at more dangerous and disagreeable jobs. They more readily accept night shifts, hardship postings to Alaska and entrepreneurial risks. Men get in-demand degrees in engineering, while women get degrees in French literature. Female librarians earn less than garbagemen, not because of discrimination, but because so many applicants compete for the safe, clean, comfortable, convenient, fulfilling jobs women prefer. Indeed, the author insists, statistics show that women and men with equal experience and qualifications, doing the same job, for the same hours, under the same conditions-get paid the same. Farrell, author of The Myth of Male Power, usefully points women towards high-paying, male-dominated fields that are becoming female friendly and suggests that ambitious women marry stay-at-home husbands. But he considers men the real victims, taken advantage of because of their innate chivalry and social expectations that they trade earning power for love and sex and be “willing to die to support the wives and children.” He decries anti-male discrimination in occupations like teaching, nursing and cocktail-waitressing, and pillories comparable worth initiatives as “spoiled-brat economics.” A whole chapter is devoted to “genetic celebrities”-i.e., beautiful women (exemplified in photos of same) whom men shower with free dinners, gifts and home repairs and who “marry up” into cushy lifestyles paid for by workaholic husbands. Ostensibly a road-map to workplace equality, Farrell’s portrait of pampered, ungrateful women and stoic, self-sacrificing men may strike some readers as an unhelpful caricature.

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the publisher’s blurb:

Controversial and exhaustively researched, gender expert Warren Farrell’s latest book Why Men Earn More takes as its stunning argument the idea that bias-based unequal pay for women is largely a myth, and that women are most often paid less than men not because they are discriminated against, but because they have made lifestyle choices that affect their ability to earn.

Why Men Earn More argues that while discrimination sometimes plays a part, both men and women unconsciously make trade-offs that affect how much they earn. Farrell clearly defines the 25 different workplace choices that affect women’s and men’s incomes — including putting in more hours at work, taking riskier jobs or more hazardous assignments, being willing to change location, and training for technical jobs that involve less people contact — and provides readers with specific, research-supported ways for women to earn higher pay.

Why Men Earn More, with its brashness in the face of political correctness, is sure to ignite a storm of media controversy that will help to make this thoroughly pragmatic exposé Warren Farrell’s next bestseller.