Axios, I’m available for side gigs
Want to reduce the wage gap? Add paternity leave.
Yesterday this Axios article trended on LinkedIn News. Dunking on the US for not being one of the 64% of countries not guaranteeing paid paternity leave.
So I click on the article and…that’s pretty much it. 183 words with a vague mention of gender inequality. No detailed explanation or meat to it whatsoever.
I mean, c’mon. I’m just out here sh*tposting and I do more research than that.
*Literally.*
2 years ago Jeff Smith and I shot a 10 Minute Talent Rant “Why Is Paternity Leave So Short (Or Non-Existent)?” (Here.) and our short handed show notes were twice as long.
Axios didn’t just bury the lede. They excluded it entirely: paternity leave is a major driver in reducing the gender wage gap.
To be fair, my ‘research’ was watching the Vox Explained episode on the wage gap on Netflix on an airplane one day. (Here.) The data the presented was unforgettable:
👉Iceland had the same wage gap as the US for a long time. Around .81 on the dollar.
👉In the 80s-90s, 3-6 months of maternity leave was given. But it didn’t change the wage gap.
👉In the 2000s, men were give equal paternity leave. The wage gap improved to .90 on the dollar.
If you’re having a hard time connecting the dots, I’ll make it real simple.
👉Women’s careers (and therefore pay) are stifled when they’re forced to be the ones to take time off when they have kids. While men’s are not.
👉Even worse: women get passed up for hires & promotions for fear they may dip out to take care of a kid for a bit. While men do not. Classic discrimination, which we all know happens.
And that’s not even getting into the guts of how guys want to see their kids and be emotionally available in their formative years and all that fun stuff, too.
Anyway, watch the 10 Minute Talent Rant. Watch the Explained special.
And Axios, I’m happy to share my show notes, for a small fee of course. It’s not much but you set the bar pretty low…
Partner at Hirewell. #3 Ranked Sarcastic Commenter on LinkedIn.
