Equal Pay

Women make significantly less money than men on average even when they do the same job with the same qualifications and level of skill. This is sometimes said to be because women are liable to go off onto the "mommy track" and quit for a while to raise children. Moreover, they usually require more flexibility when they return to work as mothers because they need to be available for their kids. Why does this fall to women? Because they make significantly less money than men on average. This means that the opportunity costs for the household are lower if the woman takes on the familial responsibilities instead of the more highly compensated man. This is the Catch 22 of gender pay disparity.

If employers are concerned that their female workers might go off on the "mommy track", they could make this a lot less likely by paying females as much as or more than males. This raises her opportunity costs of parenting. If women had equal pay, we might expect to see an increase in the proportion of fathers who opt to be stay at home dads or who choose flexible jobs in order to be available for the kids.

I reckon that it's straight up douchebaggery to pay women less than men for the same job. Shame on employers who do so.