Inequality
There are plethora of inequalities; social, cultural, religious, racial, economic and gender, to name a few of the obvious. The inequality that caught my attention this week is the gender pay gap.
Google is under federal investigation for it’s alleged pay discrimination against women. And a class action lawsuit has been filed against Google Mountain View on behalf of women employees.
Although the gender pay gap has narrowed since the 60’s and 70’s, it still remains steady at 20%. Women comprise almost half of the work force. Women attain more college and graduate degrees than men, according to the Institute For Women’s Policy Research. https://iwpr.org/issue/employment-education-economic-change/.
The long term affects of this policy of systematic prejudice is stunning; amounting to thousands of dollars of lost income over time, as is well documented in the article, ‘The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap’, http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/. And CNN Money, http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/04/pf/equal-pay-day-gender-pay-gap/index.html, has an excellent report on the ‘5 Things to Know About the Gender Pay Gap’.
It will be interesting to track the process of the suit against Google as they have the deep pocket resources to wage a prolonged battle. A battle that will no doubt bring to the forefront the specious argument that one of the primary reasons for the gender pay gap is that women take time out to have children, therefore interrupting their opportunities for advancement (equal pay).
To achieve equity, I propose that women consumers be granted the exclusive right to receive a 20% across the board discount on all purchases of goods and services. After all, it only seems fair.
