Sincerely Right

They myth that women make less money for equal work because of bias persists.

Single women with no children make more money that their male counterparts.

Many women with children make less money than men, in part, because they take time off to care for their family. Honorable, but doing so takes them away from what they are being paid to do. The same goes for those taking time off to have babies. It’s not bigoted, it is just what it is.

Before I sold my company, women that applied for employment generally asked for considerably less than male applicants. We hired mostly women – because we could pay them less. It wasn’t bigotry, it was good business practices.

Two women I knew were hired at the same ad agency on the same day soon after graduating from college. Five years later, one of them was making around 30% more than the other. When I asked the one that was making less (she did not know she was making less) what could cause one of two employees that were hired at the same time to make a third more after a few years.

Her answer: “The one making more is a man.”

“No, two women.”

Her: “The one making more must have slept with the boss.”

What was interesting was that she was sleeping with the boss. The woman that was making more was not.

A lot of factors go into determining what someone is paid. Your gender is not the reason for disparity, your actions and priorities are.