Crackpot Idea in Honor of Woman's Day

I can't find the article anymore, but there was an interesting recent study on the subject of the wage gap between men and women. The study found that there was no wage gap if regression analysis was applied to wages to sort out things such as willingness to do dirty work and work overtime hours. Of course regression analysis can be used to show some pretty absurd things, so I'm not entirely convinced.

But it does seem to be true that women are more willing to accept low pay in exchange for fulfilling jobs than men are. Female coal minors are rare. Female kindergarten teachers are pretty common.

Women are also less willing to work crazy hours and kiss ass with bosses. Which is interesting, because supposedly women are the manipulative sex. But I think it has to do with women not investing as much identity in work as men do.

So, here is my crackpot proposal to achieve pay equity.

First, put everyone (including managers) on a 37 hour week. Pay everyone (including managers) overtime. Triple the overtime rate after 40 hours.

If everybody were forced to work reasonable hours, men and women could compete on an even playing field, we'd be more likely to achieve full employment, and everybody could stop wasting so much time at work.

Second, for particularly disagreeable jobs, mandate that people only work 20 hours a week and get paid for 37. That would make things like being a coal minor or garbage truck driver more bearable. It would also make it a family friendly choice and attract women to those professions.

In my experience, people who work 60 or 80 weeks are inefficient and/or attempting to escape some kind of hellish homelife. It is not good for the economy or for the people that have to live that kind of life.