Differences between the sexes justify the differing pay scales. (Male and Female Pay Differentials)

Member Name: enchantingchap

Product:	Male and Female Pay Differentials
Date:	13/07/07 (79 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Women, though unjustly, get paid more

Disadvantages: Violates basic principles of fairness (equal pay for equal work etc.)

Men and women should indeed be paid the same. But only if they are undertaking identical work and achieving the same results.

Let me use the introduction, this year, of handing out equal prize money to Wimbledon winners (and losers) in spite of sex, as an example of an incorrect application of this basic principle (equal pay for equal work).

There are several reasons for why the winners of the male arm of tournaments are paid more: the higher skill level exhibited; the longer matches; the increased popularity (it has more fans) of the sport. The most important one of these is the first.

Now, the objection to this runs as follows: women might be performing at a lower level (this is not generally disputed) but they are performing at the highest level that they can (just as the men are). This, however, equates effort with ability whereas they must be differentiated.

An analogy proves my point. Say that there is a prize in a law firm for the highest fee earner (let us assume that fees earned is proportional to legal dexterity). Suppose that I have an inherent handicap (I can't read as well as the others because of an unfortunate mental affliction). I do my best to earn as much as the rest of the firm, but, by the objective measurement employed (amount of money earned) I do not do as do as well as some of the others, who earn more than me. Who should get the prize? The person who did the best, or the person who did the best within his class (say I did the best out of those with the same handicap as me)?

We should not overlook the differences between the sexes. To suggest that the women and the men are playing an identical game in terms of adroitness is a self-evident falsehood. To pay them, then, the same amounts for performing the same work at different levels of ability is wrong.

In short, my point is this: we should look beyond sex to the merits of the individual performance. I do not and would not assess the merit of a piece of work on the gender of the producer- for me, it is irrelevant. What is done, not who does it, is all that really matters.

Summary: We should ignore the sex of the worker and solely judge the merit of the work done.