Fake news has been the talk of the year with Donald Trump's election. This is not a new thing though people have always disseminated false information in order to pass their agenda. The problem with misinforming people is that not only does this bring into question all of the their body of work and credibility, but it also diminishes the argument because it allows people to be dismissive and not look at their point, even though it could be valid hurting one's agenda. One of the ways this is often done is by manipulating numbers to support one's argument. The authors of these articles do this because people tend not to question numbers and gives a fake authority. One big talking point in the election was equality, more specifically women’s rights, one thing that surfaced is the gendered wage gap. One of the lies that came out of this is ,that is easily dismissed, is the common misnomer that “women make about 79 cents to every dollar a man makes”. This misinformation got so big in fact former president Barrack Obama something to its likeness. Although this is not an incorrect number it does not tell the whole tale (Agness 1).

In order to understand the wage gap one must know the claims that are made and how they got to every number.  The number that gets thrown around a lot is that women make 79 cents to every dollar a man makes this number is corroborated by a lot of studies with little variation. Now this number by itself is not deceptive but when put into the context that women make 79 cents to every dollar a man makes it becomes an issues because this is not even people working in the same job or even in the same sector. This number is achieved by taking women’s median earnings and dividing them by men’s median earnings. That means that they are taking the yearly salary of every female getting the median of that and then comparing it to that of the mens so it is not comparing apples to apples as there are many variables that go into someone's salary (Kessler 1). These variables are the main reason as to why this misleads people when most people hear that women are paid less than men they think that they are getting paid less for doing the same job, since the 79% number does not give us an accurate view on how men are paid compared to women the question is how do we get a more accurate number. Much like in science experiments we have to control the variables in order to get an accurate number. These variables include job choice, work experience, education, and career interruptions. 

One of the biggest factors in the wage gap is job choice. Men and women in general have difference in interests, for instance fewer women are found in high paying jobs like lawyers or financial advisors, instead women tend to gravitate to jobs like teachers or nurses. Another major thing is that women tend to try to find more fulfilling jobs while men like more lucrative jobs. Women are now graduating college at a higher rate than men this has caused a decrease in the wage gap, according to the Pew Research center “The narrowing of the wage gap can be attributed mainly to the rising earnings of women. Armed with more education greater labor force participation and an increased presence in more lucrative occupations, women have seen their median hourly wages rise by 25% over the past 30 years”. 

Another factor in the wage gap, that when controlled for reduces the gap, is hours worked.  Studies show that a full-time working women “works on average 35.7 hours per week while a [full-time working man] works on average 44 hours per week.” In addition to working more hours per week men also on average have worked with the same employer longer than the average female, men having worked on average 4.5 years while women worked 2.6 years. In addition to working more hours than women men are also more likely to work when they have young children (Mutari 156). 

When the variables above are controlled, in order to get a more representative number the variables like job occupation, work experience, hours work, and education (Kolesnikova, Natalia, and Yang Liu) the wage gap drops from around 23% to 7%  (CONSAD). This 7% gap  can be explained in many ways but unable to narrow it down to just one. Some of these are women seek a more balanced life, the “mother hood gap theory”, career interruptions and negotiation skills.

One theory is that women seek a more balanced life (Sommers). Women also tend to receive more family friendly fringe benefits, some economists believe that because of these benefits women “accept” a lower wage (Kolesnikova, Natalia, and Yang Liu). The AAUW also offers up the theory that part of the 7% gap can be attributed to inferior negotiating skills. One of these uncontrollable factors is career interruptions, The Pew Research Center says “roughly one-in-four mothers (27%) say they quit their job at some point for family reasons (compared with only 10% of men).” This is because a lot of times when couples decide to have a parent quit their job it is mostly the women because, not only do they get payed less which perpetuates the gap, they also tend to do the most child care in families. Furthermore women are punished for working more flexible hours because employers pay “disproportionately more for working long hours and dis proportionately less for working flexible [hours]” There is a smaller gap however with turning down promotions to handle family issues, the numbers being 13% of women compared to only 10% of men have turned down a promotion (Pew Research Center). Another theory for the small gap left when the variables are controlled is called the “mother hood gap”. This “mother hood gap theory” is supported because women leave the labor force or start working part time more than their husbands if they have young kids (Sommers). 

Among these explanations is Gender discrimination and bias. According to the Equal Pay 

 Act an employer can no longer discriminate pay based off of sex. Through this law people are able to seek justice for pay disparity and many do “Each year, thousands of sex discrimination cases are brought before the federal Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC), and many of these complaints are decided or settled in favor of the person who filed the charge (U.S. EEOC, 2015).”

Through my research the biggest factor that impacts how much money one makes is the personal decisions of that person. Some of the major ones that influence their salary more than gender is what degree they get, what job sector they go into, the personal risk they take on some jobs, and their life choices. For these reasons men do get payed more on average than women but this is not a bad thing this it is just a difference in preferences between the genders.

A few arguments have been brought up about one of the sources I used which is the CONSAD report and some of them are valid and others there's no way to prove or measure them. One argument against from the article “How The CONSAD Report On the Wage Gap Masks Sexism, Instead Of Measuring it” is that the information is hand picked and that they used is “radically different sample of workers than virtually all other wage gap studies.” This is frankly not true as the AAUW, a women's organization, got a similar number when controlling for the same variables. The next critique of the article is that “The single largest factor that CONSAD found “explained” the wage gap is the difference in hours worked.” Once again the AAUW that has also gotten the same numbers. This is also not true because hours worked is a variable that needs to be controlled in order to see the real wage difference because if not then you are comparing different hours. This would be like comparing someone who has worked one hour with someone who has worked three, it just does not make sense. Another point brought up is that the report is trying to minimize sexism by saying that no more than 5-7% is caused by it making it not a problem. This is taken out of context because the report like many others have stated previously that this gap can be caused by any number of reasons. Like I have said in this paper these are the variables that can not be controlled for among those variables is sexism and discrimination. Another important thing the article brings up is the ideal of gender roles calling it “unquestioned assumptions”. Although we are starting to see less and less of gender roles in the U.S. they are still there and women can definitely feel pressured into a certain role by society.    

One thing that further perpetuates the Gender pay gap is the Equal Pay Day. This day symbolizes the day of the year that women would have to work more to make as much as men made in the previous year (O’Brian 1). This day once again does not address that personal choices are the driving force behind salary. This day instead makes one believe that women are not payed as much as men in the same job. This creates a problem because it make people believe that sexism is why this gap exists when its really difference in an individual's choice.

To culminate the wage gap is not as big as a problem as most perceive it to be. The saying that “women make about 79 cents to every dollar a man makes” is not representative because there is more to how much someone gets payed than taking all the salaries of men and all the salaries of women getting the median and comparing them. We find that once controlling for these variables that cause a difference like job occupation, hours worked, and personal decision the wage gap shrinks down to 4-7 cents to every dollar a man makes. This number is also not without its caveats as we are unable to control certain things that may cause this gap. Some of the things that can cause this gap is sexism, the “mother hood gap” theory, or career interruptions. Once we have an understand of where the numbers come from we can now do are best at seeing what people are able to change. The first thing that people can do as a whole is encourage job diversity among the genders. The next which piggybacks off job diversity is gender barriers, which is an invisible force that impacts many. Overall the statement “women make about 79 cents to every dollar a man makes” is not completely false but is used in a deceiving manner and subtracts from the real reason there is a gender pay gap.
