Gender pay gap is also about career sacrifice

I would be the first to join a protest against women being paid less to do the same job in the same hours, but that is not what the gender pay gap measures (“Named: the big businesses with (very) large gender pay gaps”, 27/2).

A greater proportion of women choose to make career sacrifices to take a greater role in their children’s (or parents’) care.

I feel fortunate in having the opportunity to make that choice, and hope young women can see that a fulfilling career and an engaged parenthood are not mutually exclusive.

I make no apologies for how that contributes to the issue of the gender pay gap.

It is ridiculous to see my choice being used to push a narrative of oppression and inequity.

Who should we blame? The children?

Tiffany Daly, Graceville, Qld

What a fundamental misapplication of statistics. The median figure refers to the income of the person sitting right in the middle of the wide range of total employees. Each of the organisations mentioned employs people in a huge diversity of jobs, ranging from cleaners, junior office staff, security personnel and so on, to senior managers, engineers and chief executives.

With more family and domestic commitments, women are more likely to be represented in the lower-earning, and even part-time working, groups.

Surely it would be far more meaningful to compare hourly rates for comparable work?

Paul Prociv, Mount Mellum, Qld

Despite mountains of data to the contrary, the spectre of a gender wage gap based on median salaries once again raises its invalid head.

Under any good multivariate analysis, the gap vanishes. American economist Thomas Sowell and other experts put this to bed long ago.

When looking at total hours worked, time in position, gender-based selection bias for specific roles and other factors, on a one-to-one comparison women get paid the same.

Should a beginner of two years’ experience get paid the same as an expert with 20 years’ experience? Typically no, but this is what the median approach implies.

Socialists say everyone should get the same and pretend they don’t, a merit and effort-based society says otherwise.

James Hein, Hackney, SA

I am perplexed by the so-called gender pay gap and how this is calculated.

I have yet to see a job advertisement with a different pay scale for males and females to do the same work, and I believe a pay differential, if it were to be offered to candidates, would be illegal under the Sex Discrimination Act.

Therefore, the difference seems to arise from women who choose to have children missing out on some years of experience, which may hinder their job prospects in climbing the corporate ladder.

Personally, I think motherhood is the most important job in the world and should be embraced, knowing that the satisfaction of raising children will ultimately outweigh any financial disadvantage.

John Yared, Wynnum, Qld

Working from home is going to be the worst hit to morale and productivity ever as the full realisation of its implications sink in across the workforce (“Making the most of WFH”, 24-25/2).

Bureaucrats and office workers such as accountants, who are the major beneficiaries, already have good conditions, security and above-average superannuation.

Manual trades, police, fire, emergency, health and education sectors will be irritated because they have to turn up whatever the weather because of the nature of their work, while in some of their workplaces there will be the empty desks of those working from home.

It is bad for morale in the workforce. Anger builds up among the have-nots.

And productivity figures speak for themselves. Why should I work is the feeling when all those desk jockeys are swanning it at home.

How knowledge is passed from the experienced to the inexperienced is just another conundrum. But do the big public sector unions care? I think not.

Work from home should attract a salary penalty.

After all, there are no transport costs and no childcare costs.

Paul Everingham, Hamilton, Qld