General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: This message was self-deleted by its author [View all]lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)I've been accused of seeing all problems as math problems, with some justification.
A working career is roughly 40 years. The average number of children per married couple is 2.x. Let's call it three to make the math easier.
The woman in that relationship typically spends 33 weeks in maternity leave, and by child #3, the cost of childcare at an average of $11,000 annually, (say $30,000 for all three kids) is more than the median wage. If either of the grownups earn less than the median (probable) it makes economic sense to be a one-earner household.
More often than not, this role falls onto the man because he's been working overtime during the pregnancy and her maternity leave anyway.
When the woman is finally able to return to work, it's often part time to work around the kids school schedule, again because that makes more economic sense than dad changing jobs for one that offers more flexible hours (and thus less money).
When you factor all those things together, an average woman's working career is about 10% shorter than a man's, which combined with the difference in hours worked, nicely explains the chronic pay gap despite the fact that paying women less for the same work has been illegal for 50 years.