[aklemm]

Why do men choose to and why are they allowed to do all those things differently? The reason is gender roles, that’s part of the equal pay discussion. Probably the biggest part, in fact.

The “multi-variable” is no answer at all. Each of those variables is part of the discussion.

Seems like everybody has a comical view of the pay gap: a big fat cigar chomping man conspiring with his cronies to set low wages for women. It’s far more broad than that, so please get serious about those variables before trying to blow the whole thing off.

Starting point: how do we better make care work less gendered and pay appropriately?

[manfredo]

> Why do men choose to and why are they allowed to do all those things differently? The reason is gender roles, that’s part of the equal pay discussion. Probably the biggest part, in fact.

The data says otherwise. Countries that are more egalitarian and have more equal gender roles (e.g. men doing more childcare and housework) actually see lower rates of women in fields like tech as compared to places like the Middle East and Indonesia with very strict gender roles.

This also plays out internally within countries. The United States had larger rates of women in tech during the 70s and early 80s, which saw stricter gender roles as compared to today. These rates of women in tech dropped during the 90s and 2000s during which time fields like law and medicine saw substantial growth in women's representation.

Making work less gendered and making pay non-discriminatory are two different discussions. The solution to the latter is straightforward: stop discriminating.

[kbutler]

People (not just men) choose differently because they have different preferences and they are free to follow those preferences.

Saying the wage gap is because of "gender roles" is no answer at all - it suggests you should target the pay scale.

Multi-variable analysis is an attempt to piece out the answer. If the wage gap is $10, and the multi-variable analysis shows it is $2 education, $3 experience, and $5 career choice, then you can investigate why those factors differ, including possible effects of gender roles, without the specter of "gender discrimination in pay".

> Starting point: how do we better make care work less gendered and pay appropriately?

As with everything, either reduce the supply or increase the demand. As long as there is a sufficient supply of people willing and able to provide the service for a low price, the price will be low.

Remember that "price" is not a direct measure of "value". Air, water, and the first 1000 calories per day are incredibly valuable, but they are very inexpensive because there is excess supply.

For what it's worth, limiting supply and providing government subsidies is a great way to make things cost more - health care and the university education are prime examples. Note that these should be viewed as cautionary examples, not recommendations.