A deep dive into the myths and realities of pay disparity between genders
Men are paid more than women for the same work. Raise your hand if you think that statement is true. It’s an interesting phenomenon — ask most women, and they’ll say yes. Ask men, and they’ll wiffle-waffle and ultimately say no.
When I posted this question as a poll, a stunning 84 percent of my respondents were confident that it was true — and ten percent more said, “It’s complicated.” (So yes, those of you who can add already know that only six percent thought it was false.)
There’s a lot of research on pay disparity between genders, most of which applies to the frum sector as well. Looking at the larger business world, Pew research indicates that women currently make 80 cents to every dollar that men make. There are well-researched and established reasons to explain 13 cents of the discrepancy (which we’ll discuss soon). What about the remaining seven cents? The literature isn’t clear: It might be a result of discrimination, but maybe not. Researchers simply state that it can’t be accounted for.
The frum business world operates differently from the larger business ecosystem. It has its own set of values, its own unspoken rules and culture. While hard numbers are hard to come by (see sidebar for the stats we did find), let’s assume there’s at least the same 20-cent gap between men’s and women’s pay. How can this difference be understood?
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