The gender gap is alive and well in the United States — with woman making an average 80 cents for every dollar men make — and new analyses find the gap may start as far back as childhood. Two analyses show that, while girls do more chores around the house than boys, when they get allowance for it, they make about half the money that boys do. It amounts to about a half an hour of work and nearly $14 a week for boys, and around 45 minutes of work and just under $7 a week for girls. According to one of the findings, boys are more likely to be paid for personal hygiene tasks, too — like brushing their teeth or taking a shower. Are practices like these contributing to the gender divide we see in adulthood? And what can we do about it now, if these expectations are locked in early?
Jim Braude was joined by Tina Opie, an associate professor of management at Babson College, Colleen Ammerman, director of Harvard Business School’s Gender Initiative, and Jesse Mermell, the former communications director for Governor Deval Patrick, now president of the Alliance for Business Leadership.
