Anyone know the exact statistic about men earning more than women?

Tracey's starting to relent...

:-)

I don't know the exact number but I think women earn about 75-80% of men on a yearly basis. For single women, the difference is negligible (about 1-2%). For married women, it is much more pronounced. And finally, and to me strangely, the margin is highest for divorced women.

Here, you can read the Bureau of Labor report itself:

http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswom2008.pdf

The study found that in 2008, women earned about 80% of what men did on average. Only 60,000 households were surveyed, however (so not the whole population), and many other factors were not taken into account, such as whether or not equal work was being performed, what careers these men and women had, seniority benefits, etc.

One thing to remember about women spending 70% of the consumer dollar is how much they're spending on behalf of their family. I am married, pregnant, and have a toddler. I do 100% of the grocery shopping. I buy 100% of the Christmas, birthday, wedding, and shower presents for my son, my family, and my husband's family. I buy all of my son's clothes and bedding. I have bought everything so far for our new baby. I'm the one who takes our son for a hair cut. I buy all of my own auto maintenance. I buy some of my husband's clothes and all of his toiletries. Since I am pregnant, I needed to make some clothing investments for myself this year. Obviously, my husband didn't buy any of that. The only things my husband buys are things for himself, an occasional dinner date with me, and a birthday, Christmas, or anniversary gift for me. I find that to be true in most families I know. Women aren't necessarily spendthrifts. They just spend for more than one person. It makes sense that they spend more money.

It's a difficult point to calculate. For starters, it's very politically charged. Second, there are a lot of variant factors (hours worked, career choices, etc.) It's one of those stats that everyone has their own interpretation of, so it's pretty much impossible to draw a concrete conclusion.

While there's no doubt in my mind that sexism and discrimination play some role in it, it's impossible to determine to what degree.

Lmao, did you notice Tracey's answer?? Great question, darlin ;-)

I Bet ILO has something about it... they manage gender statistics...www.ilo.org