The gender pay gap may not stem from discrimination

Washington

THE gender pay gap is back in the news - and may become a major issue in the presidential campaign. It seems an open-and-shut case of job discrimination. Women earn only 79 per cent of men's average hourly earnings. Who could favour that? Actually, the comparison is bogus. A more accurate ratio, after adjusting for differences in gender employment patterns, is closer to 92 per cent. Even the remaining gap of eight percentage points may not stem fully from discrimination.

What is worth recalling (especially for anyone under 40) is that the floodtide of women into the labour force represents one of the great social and economic upheavals of the post-World War II era. In the early postwar years, gender roles were stark. Once women married, they stayed home and took care of the kids. In 1947, women's labour force participation rate was 32 per cent. Female college graduates were a tiny minority, and few women were doctors, lawyers, accountants, newspaper reporters, policemen or business managers