Saturday, April 10, 2010

Pro-choice economics

Wall Street Journal:

Cornell University economists Francine D. Blau and Lawrence M. Kahn found that after adjusting for factors such as education, experience, occupation and industry, the remaining, "unexplained" gender gap in 1998 was nine percentage points. Women also are likely to interrupt their careers, often to start a family, and such breaks can derail promotions and raises.

"When you first see the numbers, you would say there is a glass ceiling," says Harvard University economist Claudia Goldin. "And yet when you scrutinize the data, you find lots of evidence of people making rational choices."

In an economic system which penalizes one gender for the reproduction of the species, it is not discriminatory insofar as women make "rational choices" when negotiating between kids and employers.

1 comment:

Ethan said...

I like too that "factors such as education, experience, occupation and industry" apparently have nothing to do with gender except insofar as they do. Or something. They're "explained," I guess.