Women Choose to Make Less

Denise Venable analyzes the wage gap between men and women. She believes that this gap is not as serious as reported. Her article is separated by her arguments. She ultimately concludes that the differences between men and women are due to personal lifestyle choices, not because of gender discrimination. Venable claims that when women behave in the workplace as men do, the wage gap between them is very small. June O'Neil, a former direction of the Congress Budget office states, "people ages 27to 33 who have never had a child, women's earnings approach 98 percent of men's. Women who hold positions and have skills and experience similar to those of men face wage disparities of less than 10 percent, and many are within a couple of points." Venable continues to argue that lifestyle choices are the reason for wage gaps. She claims that women more often stress the relationships of their families and children before work. With that, they are more likely to make choices based on their work. Part-time working is something women are more likely to partake in. In 200, one quarter of all women employees worked part-time. Nearly 85% of those women work part time due to family not due to economic standards. Married women women prefer to work part-time at a rate of 5 to 1 over married men. Venable states, "While part-time work usually increases flexibility, the part-time worker loses out on promotions and pay increases." The article continues to express how women and men's wages can only be compared depending on the job. Women only hold 28% of jobs in professions averaging $40,000 or more annual compensation. Fewer women have chosen to enter such technical fields as computer sciences, math and science teaching, medicine, law and engineering. When comparing, it all should be based of the jobs that women hold.

After reading this article my eyes were opened to the opposing view point of the wage-gap between men and women. All of the statistics that I have been able to look at throughout the three articles have suggested many different things. This article in particular focused on the big picture. The career choices women make are based off of much different factors than men. Most men are out working on a regular basis, while women are taking care of their families. As the stereotype stands today, the statistics show that women choose jobs that pay less due to their lifestyles.

Venable, Denise. "Women Do Not Earn Less than Men Due to Gender Discrimination." Opposing Viewpoints: Social Justice. Ed. William Dudley. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 7 Feb. 2010 .