MEN’S AND WOMEN’S WAGES REASON' FOR DISCREPANCY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 41, 27 November 1937, Page 4

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S WAGES REASON' FOR DISCREPANCY

ITTHY are the wages and salaries paid ' Y to women almost invariably lower than those received by men' for identical work? To say that women are invading the industrial and business fields is to utter a platitude; A slow process that goes on round us every day in an ordinary way is not spectacular enough to force itself on our consciousness. That a revolution steals on us unawares does not alter its revolutionary nature; not all revolution, even in politics, are cataclysmic. It is impossible to forecast the effect on the social and economic life of the community of the modem movement of women out of .the home. One aspect • engaging immediate attention is that there is a tremendous difference in whaV is earned by women as compartd to the earnings of men. Only recently the basic wage was increased, so that we notice this afresh. The standard award for the Metropolitan area and Newcastle for men is £3 15s f.o £3 18s and for women £2 2s to £2 6s. Professor Bland, Professor of Public Administration at Sydney University, says this is due to the fact that men are always paid more because of the responsibilities they are assumed to have. This idea, he says, is being broken down, although wages are still fixed on the old basis. The day will come, he believes, when we will have pay on the basis of productivity, irrespective of domestic needs. According to John Gunther, women in Russia do not take part in social activities unless they hold some position entitling them to recognition. To be married to an important man does not carry any weight. Dr. R. B. Mpdgwick, lecturer in Economics at Sydney University, points out that there are relatively few positions open to women, and the great number of women applying for jobs must depress their, wages. The reason for this, he says, is largely traditional. Although women are receiving better education than ever before and are thus encouraged to enter industry, they are still not as welleducated v.-. men. ‘ • ' Women Like to Choose. Speaking from an extensive experience of placing young men and women in Work, Mr. P. C. Greenland, of the University Appointments Board, mentions ambng factors making for lower wages in.addition to the custom of employers offering less—the preference of women for congenial and pleasant work. Men, on the other hand, have to consider rathu what they shall earn than hoto they shall earn it. Women frequently come to Mr. Greenland desiring work in which they are inter-sted, money being not so vital. Mr. Greenland is also inclined to think that women lack aggressiveness and are not prepared to ask more than is offered them. • » , Miss Helen Terrett, principal of tne Macquarie Secretarial School, says that the reasons for men’s higher pay are: The custom that men should be paid more, based on the idea that the cost of livin„ tor a man is about twice that of a woman; the agp-old assumption that ‘"'o ideal career for women is home-life. In Miss Terrett’s opinion women should earn as much as men for equal work. Women on Farms. There are many other considerations. Can we talk in terms of complete interchangeability of men and women in

business, industry and other employments? WeMn New Zealand tend to forget that in India and elsewhere this means seeing women in the fields working lil-r men with a hoe or other implements. Egypt, and even Italy, show the same thing. English-speaking people are not prepared for that, and would resent such practical application of what some people demand. Certain work fen the other hand is almost exclusive to women. Nurses, teachers and typists are engaged in work that is apparently eminently suitable for them. From the employer’s point of view it may be asked whether girls and women can do office or industrial work as well as men. In offices girls can do routine as well and should have equal pay. But when the inquiry is carried further, certain facts become important. For instance, more than 60 per cent, of girls leave their jobs before 30 to get married. Thus an employer has to consider constant dislocation from re-organisation after girls leave. Statistics show that girls take twice as much sick leave as men. More girls have, therefore, to be employed for the same work. In England the ratio of men’s efficiency or productivity to that of women’s is 2 to 1, according to the Royal Commission on Industrial Fatigue. Another aspect of the discussion is whether in the event of equal pay being granted there would be a levelling down to women’s wages for men or a levelling up to men’s standard. In Ireland in the last five years men’s salaries have fallen to women’s standard,