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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Sex Pay Gap - A solution?

107 replies

FemForceOne · 15/04/2019 15:27

The sex pay has been around forever and for obvious reasons men do not want it to go. In addition to keeping the money for the selves they use the sex pay gap as a mechanism for female oppression.

So, if a law was passed that made men pay a higher rate of tax than women then several benefits would follow. This would immediately eradicate the sex pay gap. Men would have less power over women. Also the extra money raised could be spent on women's only charities and could be seen as reparations that are long overdue.

OP posts:

PawPawNoodle · 15/04/2019 15:35

Aw man I opened this thread hoping it would be something sensible..

In your idea the pay gap would then still exist, just with women benefitting from it. Why would it be ok for women to be advantaged when we have so vocally spoken against the inequality?

I'm sure they dont exist among your friendship group however some women and families rely on the man of the family to bring in a wage. If you are taxing men higher then those women lose out.

TORDEVAN · 15/04/2019 15:37

so you want to fight gender inequality with ... gender inequality?

i don't think anything would immediately eradicate the sex pay gap as there are multiple reasons for it - not just gender discrimination (e.g. male heavy industries). This is different to not having equal pay between genders for the same job/role/responsibility level.

And it's not realistic that something that penalised men in that way would get passed through a male heavy government.

ghostyslovesheets · 15/04/2019 15:47

sex pay has been around forever - you mean we are supposed to be paid for sex?

anyway if men where taxed more (illegal btw) they would pay them more to make up the difference

LostInShoebiz · 15/04/2019 15:53

Won’t work. When the Equal Pay Act came in, lots of employers just reclassified men so they could pay them more and keep the gap.

Original poster

FemForceOne · 15/04/2019 15:54

Well it wouldn't be illegal if a law was passed would it!

But women wouldn't be advantaged! Men women would take home the same amounts of money so it would be fair.

There may be some cases of individual inequality but on a societal level it would go a small way to reversing patriarchy.

OP posts:

NoBaggyPants · 15/04/2019 15:56

It's known as the gender pay gap, and it's a poor measure of gender inequality because it doesn't look at the reasons behind the pay differences, some of which are justified and some are not.

Perhaps read up on the reasons behind the issue and then come back with more sensible solutions?

TacoLover · 15/04/2019 15:57

I feel like it would be a bit ridiculous to tax a man, earning 15k a year, higher than a woman because on average men earn more.

Original poster

FemForceOne · 15/04/2019 15:58

Please STOP saying gender when you mean sex!!!

There is a difference you know.

OP posts:

NoBaggyPants · 15/04/2019 15:59

Men women would take home the same amounts of money so it would be fair

There are different levels of pay difference across different sectors, and between different employers. Are you going to set different tax rates for individuals?

How does this address the issue of underemployment?

Original poster

FemForceOne · 15/04/2019 16:01

The reason behind it is the oppression of women via male patriarchal norms. Men have created a society where women have few options but take lower paid jobs and men and have a vested interested in this carrying on. they will not give this up unless forced to so.

OP posts:

ghostyslovesheets · 15/04/2019 16:01

gosh that's everyone told then - OP do you want to hear peoples views or just get cross with everyone?

NoBaggyPants · 15/04/2019 16:01

The gender pay gap is based on gender.

If you want to change the definition then you need to start the research all over again.

NewGrandad · 15/04/2019 16:02

So just because I'm a man I'll pay more tax? Despite the fact I'm paid below the national average wage?

Sounds beneficial all round certainly.

optimisticpessimist01 · 15/04/2019 16:02

It is illegal to pay a woman, who has the exact same roles and responsibilities as a man, less than her male counterpart. So if this does exist- it is illegal and should be immediately reported.

The gender pay gap exists due to a whole hosts of reasons, rather than deliberately paying women less. These include, working part time, not having as much responsibility, not working in a male-dominated industry

We should be encouraging women to go for these types of jobs and roles, which in turn will shorten the pay gap. As opposed to coming out with a random policy that targets women's vs. men's salary specifically, the issue isn't women being paid less than men for the exact same jobs, it's women not going for higher roles, working part time, not entering male-dominated industry's for what ever reason. It is this we should be targeting. Hence the recent push towards women in STEM etc.

optimisticpessimist01 · 15/04/2019 16:03

Oh, it is the gender pay gap. Not sex pay gap. The official government statistics refer to is as gender. It is gender.

AlaskanOilBaron · 15/04/2019 16:03

I don't think you've actually thought this through, have you?

Original poster

FemForceOne · 15/04/2019 16:03

It wouldn't need different rates.
The sex pay gap is about 7% in the UK. You just tax men across the board until this is 0.

OP posts:

ghostyslovesheets · 15/04/2019 16:03

also we don't JUST live in a patriarchal society - we live in a capitalist one - which relies on inequality - how do you propose to smash that?

Dvg · 15/04/2019 16:04

What about those men who are paid the same as woman??? Your idea sounds pretty stupid , never in my life have I been paid less than a man so I shouldn't pay less tax.

StatisticallyChallenged · 15/04/2019 16:04

It needs to be tackled by the employers - my employer has a big gap and it's obvious what the biggest drivers are
-women spend longer at the same grade
-we have virtually no senior women

pay rises both on entry and between grades are always a max % of old salary. So if you start off with a shitty sexist employer it just gets embedded throughout your career

Never mind taxing the individual blokes, I'd tax the employers at a penal rate.

ghostyslovesheets · 15/04/2019 16:05

The sex pay gap is about 7% in the UK. You just tax men across the board until this is 0

oh that'll help the poorest families in society then - you aren't thinking about this really are you

Original poster

FemForceOne · 15/04/2019 16:06

It is currently illegal to pay a woman, who has the exact same roles and responsibilities as a man, less than her male counterpart.

I know this but this doesn't get rid of the sex pay gap. I'm replacing one injustice with another only this time women get a long overdue benefit - men have had enough over the last 20000 years.

OP posts:

Ellisandra · 15/04/2019 16:06

I earn 4x my husband’s salary, and that’s even before you look at my pension.

Two reasons:

I chose a higher paid industry
I chose to suck it up when I was working to pay childcare for a couple of years - and NEVER saw that as equal to my salary, but a deduction from our household income

The gender pay gap is real. It has many factors. Taxing men more is just stupid.

PawPawNoodle · 15/04/2019 16:06

But women wouldn't be advantaged! Men women would take home the same amounts of money so it would be fair.

Your understanding of the pay gap is clearly very singular.

If Bob and Sharon are both doing the same job on 20k a year and Bob is taxed more by virtue of being a man, then he is taking home less money.

What if Bob's been there longer and earns 3k more than him due to being higher on the pay grading? Does he have to pay more taxes so that he takes home the same as Sharon, just because he's a man?

whodafeck · 15/04/2019 16:07

Ok so how would that work for minimum wage jobs?

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