The gender pay gap continues to be a controversial issue, one that is discussed and debated throughout the country. It’s a topic prominently discussed in board rooms and debated by presidential candidates.
A Harvard economist has a provocative and controversial suggestion for closing the gender gap: Lengthen the school day and have children attend school year-round. Claudia Goldin is an expert on the gender gap in compensation. Her views are often controversial.
Choices drive difference
Goldin argues that there are multiple reasons for the pay discrepancies. She suggests that women choose different careers and often take time outside the work force to raise a family. Her research shows that a key factor in the difference is that women choose to work less, either by pausing a career or, in other cases, working hours that allow them to be home when their children are home from school.
She dismisses arguments that men are better negotiators. Instead, she notes that disparity is practically nonexistent at the start of a career, but that the variance begins to show up in job titles and salaries within a year or two of a child being born. At that point, women value what Goldin calls “temporal flexibility” while men focus on income growth.
Goldin suggests that the issue is due to the choices women make — either working fewer hours or choosing jobs that allow for more flexible work schedules, which are found in industries that pay less. A corporate lawyer needs to put in many more hours, be available on nights and weekends, and on call at all hours. Many women choose not to live that lifestyle.
Shifting to schools
Goldin believes the best type of legislation to consider is lengthening the amount of time students are in school. Goldin believes that the challenge for parents is how to manage the time between 2 p.m. or so, when students leave school for the day, and 6 p.m., when parents can get home. For many families, the choice is for the mother to stay home or take a part-time position.
Similarly, when school ends in June, the challenges exacerbate. Students need to be cared for all day for eight to ten weeks.
Goldin believes it would be an extension of a “public good” to lengthen the school day and have school go year-round. Changing the school structure is much more feasible, she argues, than trying to mandate changes to time flexibility to create more equal pay opportunities.
“Most people I know who have kids will say that life was relatively easy until their kids went to the local public school, which sends them out at two o’clock, which sends them home in June, and the problems that they have are trying then to fill in the time to six o’clock, which used to be filled in in day care, and fill in the summer, which used to be filled in in day care,” Goldin told Freakonomics.com.
The extended work day for women would allow for them to remain at more equitable pay rates for the same jobs as male counterparts.
“We have a policy that says every child is guaranteed a public school education in the United States. No one ever said that school started at 5 years old or stopped in June or stopped at 2:30 in the afternoon,” Goldin told the Huffington Post recently. “There’s nothing more killing for parents, or women in particular, than having a child that gets out of school at 2:30.”
Advantages to a longer school day
Some states are already experimenting with longer school days or years. The greatest benefit, they say, is the ability to have longer continuous instructional periods, providing more seamless instruction. Teachers no longer need to repeat and refresh as much information each day. Teachers also have more time to collaborate with colleagues, prepare lessons (and be compensated for this time) and work with students more directly.
The American educational system is far behind many other countries when it comes to instructional time. According to The Economist magazine, many East Asian countries have 200 school days annually, compared to 180 for American students. At an average of 6.5 hours per day, American students are in school for 32 hours per week. Compare that to the school week lengths in Luxembourg (37 hours), Belgium (44 hours), Denmark (53 hours) and Sweden (60 hours).
While Goldin’s theory may be provocative, it could have multiple benefits. In addition to providing more gender compensation equity, American students would have more quality instructional time, providing them with educational equity with their international counterparts.
Regards,
Ethan Warrick
Editor
Wealth Authority
