Lesbians make more money

Cookie_Monster

Than straight women

So says a study commissioned by the World bank

In Britain, lesbians are paid an average of eight per cent more than straight women, with the trend even more extreme in other western countries. In the US, the difference is 20 per cent.

But gay men make less than straight men

Conversely gay men face a pay penalty, earning five per cent less than heterosexual men in the UK - rising to nine per cent in Germany and 12 per cent in Canada.

Without delving deeper into the data in detail it's hard to tell if it's actually correct though. Do average straight women who choose to focus on career and not family still earn less than average lesbian women who do the same?

It's already the case in Ireland that women who don't have kids earn 17%* more than than their male counterparts, does this leave lesbians at the top of the pile


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11376779

* - Wibbs has helpfully provided this elsewhere: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=93467965&postcount=1854

shruikan2553

Does that mean theres a lesbianarchy which is discriminating against us non lesbians? I demand quotas!

endacl

Wait until next year when the marriage equality referendum is passed. Only a matter of time before these minted lesbians lose it all in maintenance payments once gay divorce kicks in.

Full equality! :pac:

RDM_83 again

Its weird that Germany and Canada have a higher pay gap for Gay men than the UK, wonder what the reasoning is I can't see it being that there is increased prejudice compared too Britain?

Tail Docker

So, lesbians make more money and gay men make less? I'm off to mock and laugh at Elton John and Gok Wan - hah! Losers...


A teensy, brief idea about the strength of the pink pound makes me go "Hmm, statistics - a great bunch of lads.."

newport2

New, for 2015, we now have The Sexual Orientation Pay Gap!!!

The Guardian columnists will be in a frenzy, with the Irish Times in hot pursuit trying to emulate them. (I'm offering odds of 1/50 that straight white men will still be to blame for this somehow)

whiskeyman

Lesbians need to earn more money because of their lavish lifestyles.
From what I've heard, they like to eat out very often...

newmug

I'm off to be a lesbian so.

RDM_83 again

Swissalps wrote: »

Why are you assuming it'a prejudice that causes the pay gap?

It could be increased competitiveness amongst certain sections of society, which could be caused by hormones which could be correlated to gender and sexuality.

I'm not assuming its prejudice in fact I'm considering that prejudice might not be the main driver as there is significant differences in the gap between 3 fairly tolerant societies but I'm curious about the cultural reasons why? If its a biological or deeper social cause shouldn't we expect the same rate between countries that are broadly similar like the UK and Canada?

Edit: And don't gay men have more testosterone rather than less anyway ?

efb

newport2 wrote: »

New, for 2015, we now have The Sexual Orientation Pay Gap!!!

The Guardian columnists will be in a frenzy, with the Irish Times in hot pursuit trying to emulate them. (I'm offering odds of 1/50 that straight white men will still be to blame for this somehow)

It's tough isn't it

newmug

efb wrote: »

It's tough isn't it

Its pure bull, that's what it is. I can guarantee you Aonghus McGrianna makes more than me, and Martina Navratolova made more than myself and my missus will earn in our whole lives.

supersean1999

So are lesbians . Tighter

fryup

well they don't get preggers so that means they're more productive in the workplace

Dan_Solo

Like everyone else with no kids they just have more time for work and career. They don't get the tax breaks or allowances though... tax home could be much less than someone with kids.

efb

newmug wrote: »

Its pure bull, that's what it is. I can guarantee you Aonghus McGrianna makes more than me, and Martina Navratolova made more than myself and my missus will earn in our whole lives.

Well that's very accurate sampling

Teyla Emmagan

fryup wrote: »

well they don't get preggers so that means they're more productive in the workplace

Not quite true but they are probably less likely to be raising children than a woman in a "straight" relationship. Which does have an impact on what you are paid. I wonder if they, if childless, made more than other childless women tho, that would be interesting.

Donkey Oaty

Dan_Solo wrote: »

Like everyone else with no kids they just have more time for work and career. They don't get the tax breaks or allowances though... tax home could be much less than someone with kids.

There are lots of lesbians that have kids though.

Would be interesting to compare the salaries of lesbian mothers compared to lesbians without families to see if there's any huge difference there.

efb

Dan_Solo wrote: »

Like everyone else with no kids they just have more time for work and career. They don't get the tax breaks or allowances though... tax home could be much less than someone with kids.

People in CP have the same tax rights as married couples

Donkey Oaty

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

Not quite true but they are probably less likely to be raising children than a woman in a "straight" relationship. Which does have an impact on what you are paid. I wonder if they, if childless, made more than other childless women tho, that would be interesting.

Great minds, etc...!

ted1

RDM_83 again wrote: »

Its weird that Germany and Canada have a higher pay gap for Gay men than the UK, wonder what the reasoning is I can't see it being that there is increased prejudice compared too Britain?

Carrer path and choices.

iDave

Surprised gay men earn less. A gay friend once told me the 'professions' like law that are well paid are full of gay men because they don't have families and just focus on their careers more.

newport2

efb wrote: »

It's tough isn't it

No, just irritating.

ted1

iDave wrote: »

Surprised gay men earn less. A gay friend once told me the 'professions' like law that are well paid are full of gay men because they don't have families and just focus on their careers more.

But there's s huge percentage in the arts and retail that drag down the average

Dan_Solo

Donkey Oaty wrote: »

There are lots of lesbians that have kids though.

Maybe there are.
By percentage of self-identifying lesbians I would still insist it's an insignificance.

Dan_Solo

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

Not quite true but they are probably less likely to be raising children than a woman in a "straight" relationship. Which does have an impact on what you are paid. I wonder if they, if childless, made more than other childless women tho, that would be interesting.

Well that's exactly it isn't it? I'd contest this has nothing at all to do with sexual orientation and everything to do with available time for study and work.

keithclancy

Feckin lezzers, comin over here .. steelin our jabs and our wimmins.

newport2

keithclancy wrote: »

Feckin lezzers, comin over here .. steelin our jabs and our wimmins.

Have a heart, conditions are very tough in Lezuania.

efb

newport2 wrote: »

No, just irritating.

Not having as much as an advantage as you used to?

RDM_83 again

efb wrote: »

Not having as much as an advantage as you used to?

For a gay man you seem to have a remarkable downer on men

newport2

efb wrote: »

Not having as much as an advantage as you used to?

Efb, I find articles based on limited research such as "Lesbians earn more than straight women" irritating, because they are rarely based on any facts or proper research and usually based on loaded questions and cherry picking facts. Nothing at all to do with whether I have an advantage or not, seeing as I'm not a lesbian or a woman. But twist what I say into what you want it to mean.

Happy Xmas.

efb

RDM_83 again wrote: »

For a gay man you seem to have a remarkable downer on men

No just people who bemoan the loss of advantage for the sake of equality.

I'm quite fond of men.

suicide_circus

Musical Theatre not the cash cow it once was

efb

newport2 wrote: »

New, for 2015, we now have The Sexual Orientation Pay Gap!!!

The Guardian columnists will be in a frenzy, with the Irish Times in hot pursuit trying to emulate them. (I'm offering odds of 1/50 that straight white men will still be to blame for this somehow)

Playing the victim here? White StraightMen really have had it hardest of all

newport2

efb wrote: »

Playing the victim here? White Single Men really have had it hardest of all

Where did I say that? I don't even belong to the category "White Single Men".

In the type of articles I'm referring to, the default option is usually to attribute blame to men collectively as a whole, which like I said, gets irritating after a while. Nothing to do with being a victim, wherever you got that from. It's possible to find something annoying without being a victim.

efb

I don't think there are many that flatly blame straight White men for life's ill
Sorry, straight not single

Dan_Solo

newport2 wrote: »

Have a heart, conditions are very tough in Lezuania.

C'mon now, there's already a joke for that.
What do you call a woman from the island of Lesbos?
Greek.

bodice ripper

Of the class I graduated from in secondary school, the lesbians were disproportionately represented in the debate team, chess playing, inter school quizes and competitions, anything requiring a speech or an article, and top marks in honours classes.

After school, they went on to be over-represented in post-graduate study and technical careers.



Personally, I think once you have written off being girly, you are more comfortable with being competitive.

Micky Dolenz

The lesbianians making the news again.

They come over here, take our women and our jobs.

MRnotlob606

They are also quite partial to strap ons.

somefeen

As long as they go on to actually ask why, rather than instantly shout discrimination.

I'm a firm believer that pay gaps exist for reasons other than discrimination

Doctor Jimbob

efb wrote: »

No just people who bemoan the loss of advantage for the sake of equality.

I'm quite fond of men.

The problem with this attitude being that the average straight white man isn't really at an advantage, rather there is an elite portion of society composed largely of straight white man. This reflects on the average straight white man in largely the same way that the wealth of Aengus Mac Grianna or Elton John reflects on that of the average gay man: i.e not at all.

efb

Doctor Jimbob wrote: »

The problem with this attitude being that the average straight white man isn't really at an advantage, rather there is an elite portion of society composed largely of straight white man. This reflects on the average straight white man in largely the same way that the wealth of Aengus Mac Grianna or Elton John reflects on that of the average gay man: i.e not at all.

The average straight White man has it better than all other groups though not just the elite

Doctor Jimbob

efb wrote: »

The average straight White man has it better than all other groups though not just the elite

Source?

efb

Doctor Jimbob wrote: »

Source?

Let me get back to you on that

iDave

efb wrote: »

The average straight White man has it better than all other groups though not just the elite

As an average straight White man I wish I knew what I did wrong not to have it better than all other groups so.

Doctor Jimbob

efb wrote: »

Let me get back to you on that

Well, you were very quick to (correctly) call out someone for using a select few gay people as representative of gay people as a whole. Yet you're now using the wealthy elite as representative of straight white men as a whole. It just seems like a double standard.

Doctor Jimbob

Swinglong wrote: »

In what way? I'd argue men in general are worse off in most first work countries.

I think that's swinging the argument a bit too far the other way to be fair.

castletownman

The LPGA Tour probably skewers the figures

bodice ripper

Behind every minority success story, there's a straight white male to say how unfair it is.

Doctor Jimbob

bodice ripper wrote: »

Behind every minority success story, there's a straight white male to say how unfair it is.

The cynic in me would suspect that rather than being in a success story this study is just cherry picked data used to say 'Ha! See! No discrimination. Move along lads, nothing to see here'.

bodice ripper

Doctor Jimbob wrote: »

The cynic in me would suspect that rather than being in a success story this study is just cherry picked data used to say 'Ha! See! No discrimination. Move along lads, nothing to see here'.

I dunno, all the lesbians in my life are very driven people. Also, if it is cherry picked, I would be inclined to think it was to make a feel good minority story, rather than to prove there is no discrimination.