ONE issue that virtually every Democratic presidential candidate has weighed in on this year is the wage gap between the sexes. The most commonly-cited statistic is that women make just 77 cents for every dollar men do, with the implication being that the 23-cent gap is a result of discrimination. While the statistic is accurate, interpreting it requires some nuance: at least some of the gender pay gap can be explained by differences in things like the number of hours worked or type of careers each gender pursues.
Economic research suggests that the majority of the gender pay gap is because of differences within occupations rather than across them. What is tougher to determine is if women make less for “same work”: studies tend to rely on data from the US Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labour Statistics which are reliable but lack detail when it comes to specific occupations. For instance, in the American Community Survey, one of the most popular sources of data, all doctors fall under the classification “physicians and surgeons” which is problematic since salaries can vary greatly depending on what sort of specialism...Continue reading
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