Well at least no one has tried to make the argument that the reason woman are less successful than men in a capitalist system is because they aren’t as naturally smart or productive.
One of the biggest factors contributing the wage gap is that women are the only sex capable of giving birth. Men and women simply don’t face the same issues relating to the impact on their ability to work when they or their spouse are expecting. As supportive as any partner can be they can’t trade places with their spouse when it comes to missing time from work due to complications related to pregnancy, that being the case the burden falls on the mother. This scenario isn’t isolated to just during pregnancy either, for any woman who suffers from things like endometriosis or any issues relating to their menstrual cycles it can be an ongoing issue they deal with monthly.
The decision to have one parent take time off to raise their children is often made for financial reasons, and while there can be many factors to consider when deciding on which parent will stay home and which will work, more often than not the spouse who earns the least is the one who stays at home. This usual ends up being the mother. If she can’t work but the father can continue to earn more, it only furthers the gap.
As our population ages we need future generations to continue growing our society and economy. Creating future generations relies on both sexes, but on average woman face a much greater burden than men in doing so which through no fault of their own puts men in a position to prosper financially at a greater rate. As I mentioned earlier even if you don’t have children, being born as a member of the impregnable sex comes with other roadblocks to financial prosperity throughout life that men will also never face, so all woman face additional struggles, it isn’t just those who chose to have children.
In a society where wealth dictates your quality of life and ability to prosper, woman will never be on a level playing field with men until there is an acknowledgement that woman face natural challenges which put them at a disadvantage as it relates to personal economic growth, and we actually address it. If we understand that future generations are necesary for our society to continue to thrive and that woman and men are both equally required to create those generations, then we need to find a way to eliminate the economic barriers that only woman are naturally forced to face. Otherwise we are basically saying that even though women are just as important as men to the big picture, we’re ok with maintaining the status quo of them having a much harder time than a man does to achieve and maintain the same level of financial success.