While I have no doubt that women are unfairly paid less than men, it is important - for the sake of an informed debate - that we do not misrepresent the figures. I would suggest that your paragraph below does just that. So, if men charge 43% more than women, and women charge 57 pence, then men would surely receive 81.5 pence, not £1. And over a month, if a woman earns £2850, and men charge 43% more, then men would surely earn £4075.50, not £5000? (Or, if a man earns £5000, then a woman would earn £3496). Still not fair, but it's a significant difference.
In fact, self-employed men charge an average of 43% more than women, a situation they put down to “women undervaluing their services and charging a lower day rate.” For our industry, this means that for every £1 male writers earn, a woman may well have instead settled for 57 pence. This adds up quickly; over just one month, this could mean the difference in earning £2,850 rather than £5,000.
Hi Murray, you are completely correct! It was quite late on Monday night when I was doing those figures so it's my fault for them being wrong. I've updated the post to reflect the correct maths. Thanks for pointing this out!
No problem, Steph. It's not immediately obvious, but I am a middle-aged, underemployed, male pedant with a background in the financial sector! I am 100% in favour of equal pay.
While I have no doubt that women are unfairly paid less than men, it is important - for the sake of an informed debate - that we do not misrepresent the figures. I would suggest that your paragraph below does just that. So, if men charge 43% more than women, and women charge 57 pence, then men would surely receive 81.5 pence, not £1. And over a month, if a woman earns £2850, and men charge 43% more, then men would surely earn £4075.50, not £5000? (Or, if a man earns £5000, then a woman would earn £3496). Still not fair, but it's a significant difference.
In fact, self-employed men charge an average of 43% more than women, a situation they put down to “women undervaluing their services and charging a lower day rate.” For our industry, this means that for every £1 male writers earn, a woman may well have instead settled for 57 pence. This adds up quickly; over just one month, this could mean the difference in earning £2,850 rather than £5,000.
Hi Murray, you are completely correct! It was quite late on Monday night when I was doing those figures so it's my fault for them being wrong. I've updated the post to reflect the correct maths. Thanks for pointing this out!
No problem, Steph. It's not immediately obvious, but I am a middle-aged, underemployed, male pedant with a background in the financial sector! I am 100% in favour of equal pay.
Ha! When the basis of an argument is on the numbers then you really do need to make sure they're accurate so I fully appreciate the pedantry on this!