Reply #30: And what is the government supposed to do about some of that? [View All]

[fed_up_mother]

Nothing. It's not the government's job to make a woman's husband pick up the slack. It is the government's job, imo, as I've stated before, to pass laws to give better childcare, maternity leave, sick leave, caregiver leave, etc. However, in the end it's up to us to make our relationships more egalitarian. The government can't do that for us.

And one thing that's not even mentioned is the danger factor. Men make more in many jobs because they take more dangerous or physically demanding jobs - therefore, a college educated woman might not make as much as a man with less education.

You might think a secretary should earn as much as a welder, but why? Why shouldn't more women become welders? Because it's dirty, hot, and hard work (at least, the particular jobs I'm thinking about.) I'm only giving that example because I know a woman (college educated) who worked for the same company as her husband in Louisiana, and he earned more than she did. However, she was free to apply for the welder's job. She didn't want it, though.

Yeah, there's sexism, but the statistics bantered about, just don't explain the whole picture.