The Gender Pay Gap Myth
The gender pay gap is one of the most renowned and perpetuated myths debated when the topic of gender inequality arises. The statistics that are thrown about are inherently unreliable due to unfair and arbitrary variables. The whole basis of the argument is completely dependent upon the fact that imperative variables are absent, making the whole argument for the pay discrepancy moot. Now according to the media and the Office for National Statistics, women make only eighty-one pence for every £1 a man makes. Through looking at the composition of this statistic, gender-dominated work, and the illogical reasoning from the proponents of the myth, it will quickly become evident why it is a myth. Firstly, to debunk the myth you will have to have a firm grasp of the composition of the statistic. The statistic in question, the eighty-one pence earned for every pound a man makes, is based on only one variable: the average pay of men in comparison with the average pay of women. Now this seems like a fair way to gauge whether or not there is such a pay gap, but with a further inspection it is clear why other factors need to be taken into consideration. For instance, there are more men in full-time work than there are women: 76% of men are in full-time work compared with 67% of women. And so …show more content…
The whole objective of an organisation is to minimise expenditure and maximise profit, so why would such an organisation want to hire women when there would be a brilliant opportunity to get 19% off? It is because there is no such gap, and if there indeed was, there would be an epidemic of unemployed men. Businesses would be scheming to find various ways to hire as many women as possible – the people at the top do not care, profit is first and second priority for the shareholders. If there is an opportunity to make cuts which would not damage the business, they would jump on
The gender pay gap is one of the most renowned and perpetuated myths debated when the topic of gender inequality arises. The statistics that are thrown about are inherently unreliable due to unfair and arbitrary variables. The whole basis of the argument is completely dependent upon the fact that imperative variables are absent, making the whole argument for the pay discrepancy moot. Now according to the media and the Office for National Statistics, women make only eighty-one pence for every £1 a man makes. Through looking at the composition of this statistic, gender-dominated work, and the illogical reasoning from the proponents of the myth, it will quickly become evident why it is a myth. Firstly, to debunk the myth you will have to have a firm grasp of the composition of the statistic. The statistic in question, the eighty-one pence earned for every pound a man makes, is based on only one variable: the average pay of men in comparison with the average pay of women. Now this seems like a fair way to gauge whether or not there is such a pay gap, but with a further inspection it is clear why other factors need to be taken into consideration. For instance, there are more men in full-time work than there are women: 76% of men are in full-time work compared with 67% of women. And so …show more content…
The whole objective of an organisation is to minimise expenditure and maximise profit, so why would such an organisation want to hire women when there would be a brilliant opportunity to get 19% off? It is because there is no such gap, and if there indeed was, there would be an epidemic of unemployed men. Businesses would be scheming to find various ways to hire as many women as possible – the people at the top do not care, profit is first and second priority for the shareholders. If there is an opportunity to make cuts which would not damage the business, they would jump on