I was having brunch with some new, very accomplished female friends when the subject of the presidential race came up. One of these friends announced that she was a Democrat because she believes in equality.
Women now control 51 percent of all wealth in the U.S. They hold 52 percent of management and professional positions. They earn more degrees of higher learning and own 30 percent of all private businesses. Still, one of the key myths promoted every election cycle is the wage gap. It's the political unicorn used to persuade millions of women that they are victims of inequality and they need Democrats like Hillary Clinton to save them. Like the legendary horse from classical antiquity, it doesn't exist.
So what is this 79 percent figure we hear so much about? If you look at all the wages paid to full-time working women over the course of a year, women make 79 percent of what men earn. Did you catch the subtlety here? It's not for doing the same work or even working the same amount of hours. It's simply for working full-time.
Would it surprise you to know that among full-time workers the average man works 8.4 hours per day compared to 7.8 for the average woman, or three hours more per week? Hillary's wage gap also does not take into consideration education, experience, productivity or job tenure. If you compare all the wages of similarly situated male and female workers, the difference almost goes away. It's less than 5 percent or, as they say in political polling, within the margin of error.
And there are other factors that must be taken into consideration such as motherhood. If you compare the wages of single men and single women, the wage gap disappears completely. Women, on average, still choose to take the major role in rearing their children, not because they can't run IBM, but because most women are better at nurturing than most men. In fact, many studies have shown that women tend to make 5.7 percent less for each child they have because of the sacrifices they willingly make for their children. Conversely, men with children make approximately 8 percent more than fatherless men.
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Hillary Clinton wants to force businesses to provide child care centers for their employees. Donald Trump wants families to be able to deduct their child-care expenses. Which one of these options is best for women and children?
Hillary's plan would unleash an entirely new government bureaucracy, complete with a set of mandates and regulations that would drive up the cost of doing business and decrease wages. The government would then dictate how your children must be raised, what they can be taught, etc. Trump's plan would allow you to pick a day care center that meets your needs and shares your values. That should be a no-brainer for any thinking woman.
The idea that we need Hillary and the Democrats to pass another law under the pretense of giving women equality is ludicrous. Equal pay for equal work has been the law of the land since the 1963 Equal Pay Act and reiterated in the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
We should be celebrating the fact that, for all practical purposes, the wage gap doesn't exist and women are free to be all they can be or not. In the United States, unlike some other countries, we still have choices. Would the average woman want the government to force her into the workforce full-time?
Women tend to choose jobs that are less physically demanding with an easy entry and exit, require less travel and have better working conditions. Would the average woman want the government making these choices for her?
Let's be clear – our government has spent millions of our hard-earned tax dollars trying to steer women into higher-wage jobs to no avail. That's because most women value quality of life more than the almighty dollar.
Women must decide if they want equal opportunity (which we have) or a guaranteed equal result. The only way to achieve the latter is through socialism or communism. In those societies everyone loses, except the politically connected.
Meanwhile, let's look at how Hillary Clinton pays her employees. The Washington Free Beacon did an analysis that showed that the women in Clinton's Senate office were paid 72 cents for every dollar paid to men. Also, the Clinton Foundation paid the men who worked there 38 percent more than it paid women.
On this issue, Clinton is, indeed, the Queen of Hypocrisy.
Media wishing to interview Jane Chastain, please contact [email protected].
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