The ‘gender wage gap’ is a fallacy, don’t let politicians like Julián Castro exploit it

Presidential hopeful Julián Castro wants to fight sexism in the workplace, one paycheck at a time.

During the Democratic primary debate on Wednesday, Castro claimed that as president, he would fight for women, who “work very, very hard just to make less than men simply because they’re women.”

“I know what it’s like to struggle,” Castro said. “It’s past time women were paid equal pay for equal work in this country.”

Castro, like so many other progressives, has bought into the fallacy that any difference between the average earnings of men and women is a result of systemic sexism. He’s wrong. Existing wage gaps are common, not because corporations and businesses discriminate against women, but because women think and work differently.

Women make different lifestyle choices. They opt for fewer hours, often at the expense of better compensation. Many prioritize family over work, which means her career will inevitably look different from her husband’s. Of course, this isn’t always the case. Career-driven women set impressive standards every young woman, including myself, should aspire to.

The wage gap fallacy undermines the accomplishments of women who do it all. Perhaps women are underrepresented in elite positions within major corporations. And yes, in some positions, women statistically make less than men. But neither of these things are objective negatives, and making them so would discredit the achievements of women who have and will continue to pioneer the future.

Career differences are more often than not a result of differing preferences. Women should embrace and celebrate these distinctions rather than allowing politicians like Castro to politically exploit them.

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