Thomas Sowell gives simple explanation to why women earn less than men:

Q: We’ve frequently heard, and will hear much more I am sure if Hillary is the Democratic nominee, that women make 76 cents for every dollar a man makes. Can you give us a basic rundown of why that discrepancy exists? A: There are lots of reasons. Men and women do not work the same number of hours. They do not work in the same occupations. They do not work continuously the same, and so on.

You know, if it was really true that you could hire a woman for three quarters of what you could hire a man with exactly the same qualifications, then employers would be crazy not to hire all women. It would be insane to hire men. Not only would it be insane, it would probably put them out of the business because the ones that were smart enough to hire women would have such a cost advantage that it would be really hard for the others to compete.

Sowell’s explanation is elegant, brilliant and entirely logical! Why didn’t I think of it myself???

Sowell continues:

There are lots of gross differences between men and women and other groups and some of them shocked me when I first started doing the research. For example, I found that young male doctors make considerably more than young female doctors. But, when I dug into it a little deeper, I discovered that young male doctors work an average of 500 hours a year more than young female doctors. Obviously, a doctor that works 500 extra hours is going to make more money than the other doctor.

So the answer to the question: do women earn less than man, is YES, but there are good reasons why that is the case. Contrary to the commonly advanced liberal theory of “sexist and unjust male-dominated world”, other factors are at play. Men work more hours and spend more time in the workforce, while women take time off to raise children and favour part time employment. My wife, who earns more per hour than me, chooses to work only three days a week to look after our child. Her annual salary is lower than mine even though she would earn more if she worked full time. There is no conspiracy at play, it is only fair that those that work more get higher rewards.

This is not to say that sexism doesn’t exist and that women are always treated fairly. But as a general rule it is inconceivable that employers could hire a female worker for the three quarter of what they would have to pay a man with the same qualifications.

The whole interview is worth a read.

Bettina Arndt (female) has more on why women earn less than men. Again no conspiracy.

UPDATE:

Professor Mark Wooden of Melbourne University agrees:

Melbourne University social researcher Mark Wooden said men were earning on average 15 per cent more than women because they put in more time at the workplace. “All high achievers in all walks of life … put in long hours into their activity,” Professor Wooden said. “It’s (the pay equity gap) got a lot to do with the fact that women are not prepared to work longer hours.” … The only male taking part in a National Press Club panel discussion about the pay equity gap, Prof Wooden’s remarks drew gasps from the mostly female audience. [ 🙂 ] …. Prof Wooden said closing the gap would require a change in the traditional family structure. “The only way we can achieve this is if we have lots of role reversals, lots of men behaving like women and lots of women behaving like men.” “I don’t think women in Australia want that, I don’t think that women anywhere in the world want that.”