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Women now make up the majority of the U.S. labor force

bloomberg.com

131–140 of 309 posts

Re: Women now make up the majority of the U.S. labor force

#131

The more interesting thing is the distribution of income. I would happily bet that there still is a considerable gap between women on average and men on average and that the total amount taken home by that majority is significantly less than the total amount for the men.

Women tend to choose jobs that pay less. They're on average more interested in people, so they tend to choose to become nurses, teachers, etc., while men are interested in things and become software developers, engineers, etc. I have no idea why income HAS TO be distributed equally. Unless you want to force women to become software developers..? But why.

One problem I see with this is your example of nurses. Women went into nursing in the past frequently because it was open to them, and being a doctor wasn't. That's changed, and now the only reason to be a nurse is because the educational requirements are much lower, and consequently, there's a shortage of nurses because who wants to do that instead of being a doctor and making more money, unless they don't want to spend as long in school and rack up as much debt?

Also, nurses are some of the least empathetic people around. Don't be fooled by the common misconception; they're usually not caring people at all. "Nurse Ratchet" is not that far from the truth. My mom was a nurse, and I've met many others; they're just not the nicest people around. And there's a good reason for this: a highly empathetic person would not last very long as a nurse. They'd get burned out very quickly, after seeing so many sick and dying people up close day after day.

Re: Women now make up the majority of the U.S. labor force

#132
post #3

I find this fairly astounding. The typical stay-at-home parent is the mother and while it's getting closer to parity I don't think it's anywhere near even. For that reason alone I would expect more men in the work force. What are men doing if not working? On disability? Homeless? Retiring earlier?

>> What are men doing if not working? On disability? Homeless? Retiring earlier? Some are living in their parents basement until they're 30 to 40. It has been hypothesized that with the breakdown of families in the US, men are giving up, and that includes efforts to build a stable foundation for their family. See MGTOW but dont read too much, it can be kind of depressing.

Non-american here so pardon my ignorance: Why is "basement" so common in this case? I mean, the whole "living with parents" and the basement thing.

Re: Women now make up the majority of the U.S. labor force

#133
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not "sexist history", it's just that men are better at (almost all) sports. Male football is simply more exciting to watch (I imagine, for broader audiences... it's boring to me, in general). For modeling, it's the reverse.

How is men’s soccer more exciting to watch rather than woman’s soccer? It’s literally people kicking a ball around. Does the ball explode if you are a man and kicking it?

lol no, but the men kick the ball harder?

Re: Women now make up the majority of the U.S. labor force

#134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> What are men doing if not working? On disability? Homeless? Retiring earlier? Some are living in their parents basement until they're 30 to 40. It has been hypothesized that with the breakdown of families in the US, men are giving up, and that includes efforts to build a stable foundation for their family. See MGTOW but dont read too much, it can be kind of depressing.

> Some are living in their parents basement until they're 30 to 40. I understand this is considered a bad thing, and it makes sense at a societal level, but honestly it sounds like a pretty amazing life. Maybe that would have been boring and depressing pre-internet, but it seems pretty good now. I know one dude who essentially grifted his way into the disability system, and I've watched him go from an anxious mess to…

>The real inexplicable thing here is how parents are letting this happen?

What are the alternatives? Turn him out and see him become homeless?

Re: Women now make up the majority of the U.S. labor force

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> What are men doing if not working? On disability? Homeless? Retiring earlier? Some are living in their parents basement until they're 30 to 40. It has been hypothesized that with the breakdown of families in the US, men are giving up, and that includes efforts to build a stable foundation for their family. See MGTOW but dont read too much, it can be kind of depressing.

Non-american here so pardon my ignorance: Why is "basement" so common in this case? I mean, the whole "living with parents" and the basement thing.

Basements are usually a fairly large single room, usually well away from the commonly traversed areas of the house. These things appeal to grown males living with their parents because they can be louder, have more space, be more private, etc.

Re: Women now make up the majority of the U.S. labor force

#136
post #123

I'm confused. The headline talks about women holding more than 50% of jobs. But the tagline underneath says females make up the largest share of the labor market! That ain't make no sense! In the current year, not all women have a vagina. I didn't think Bloomberg was transphobic, but now I know better.

"Eschew flamebait. Don't introduce flamewar topics unless you have something genuinely new to say. Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Women now make up the majority of the U.S. labor force

#137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Some are living in their parents basement until they're 30 to 40. I understand this is considered a bad thing, and it makes sense at a societal level, but honestly it sounds like a pretty amazing life. Maybe that would have been boring and depressing pre-internet, but it seems pretty good now. I know one dude who essentially grifted his way into the disability system, and I've watched him go from an anxious mess to…

>The real inexplicable thing here is how parents are letting this happen? What are the alternatives? Turn him out and see him become homeless?

Yes, that's one way we get homeless people.

Another option is to be so toxic about the situation that you force the child out of the house. That's what would have happened to me, so I left before that.

Re: Women now make up the majority of the U.S. labor force

#138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about marriage? If a man makes more money and he is married is HE talking more? Isn't that income split (or in reality spent by the women)? I have never understood why data on married men is treated as if the men are single and it's their money alone.

A lot of couples keep separate finances. Money is one of the biggest reasons couples split up, after all. While my boyfriend and I aren’t married, we do split our household contributions and pay from our own accounts. I think it is also interesting to study the money men and women bring separately into their relationship and how that plays into relationship dynamics.

I didn't say couples. I said married people. Married people BY LAW do not have separate finances. Your situation is completely different.

Re: Women now make up the majority of the U.S. labor force

#139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> What are men doing if not working? On disability? Homeless? Retiring earlier? Some are living in their parents basement until they're 30 to 40. It has been hypothesized that with the breakdown of families in the US, men are giving up, and that includes efforts to build a stable foundation for their family. See MGTOW but dont read too much, it can be kind of depressing.

Non-american here so pardon my ignorance: Why is "basement" so common in this case? I mean, the whole "living with parents" and the basement thing.

I second this. Unless the person has lived their entire life in the basement (which seems a little cruel) why has the person been moved to the basement after reaching adulthood? Why can't they keep their room?

Re: Women now make up the majority of the U.S. labor force

#140
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are some legitimate concerns related to having basically only women teaching young children, but the issue seems to predominantly be that men don't want to do it.

I don’t want to get too deep into this - but people said the same thing about science and engineering. It’s a little bit sexist to suggest something like that, though I don’t think that was your intention. I don’t really think there is any rationale that I’ve seen that convinced me that any job should have any gender ratio split, or that we should increase or decrease such ratios that were scientifically based. There…

The over medication of young boys with add medications begins with teachers reporting behavioral issues to parents and suggesting evaluations. I hypothesize men are more likely to empathize with young boys and not see hyperactive behavior as a disorder requiring amphetamines, and that an educational system dominated by women will inevitably pathologize the behavior of young boys while elevating the behavior of young girls.
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