But besides the fact that the cost of labor has not gone down with women in the workforce, if you look at what kind of work women go into you'll see that with a few exceptions, when it comes to actual labor the supply of potential employees does not go up. Jobs like construction, welding, concrete cutting, mining, smelting, or any number of similar blue collar professions, are predominantly done by men.
If you look at the kinds of jobs that women are taking, barring medicine and education, you'll notice that they are almost all in regulatory roles. They work in the DMV, human resource departments, and in law. So the entrance of women into the workforce has not brought down the cost of labor, it has brought down the cost of regulation.
But women do go into blue-collar jobs, such as factory work, which must be taken into consideration. I've worked in many factories, alongside many women.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience there is generally only one or two if any. And as I did say at the start of the post this is not based on any hard statistical data, just my own observations, and what I hear from others in those sectors.
ReplyDeleteI guess we've had different experiences.
ReplyDeleteBrought down the cost of regulation? Then why do all government fees keep going up - license renewal for example.
ReplyDeleteBy bringing down the cost of regulation, I'm talking about the cost needed to regulate something. In order to even have driving licenses in the way that we do, it is necessary to have local offices in every city that are staffed with people who will process forms, conduct tests, and whatever else DMV employees do. To do all regulating, the DMV has to pay employees. And I don't know about you, but every DMV I've been in has been staffed by mostly, if not all, women.
ReplyDelete