Instigator / Pro
2
1587
rating
182
debates
55.77%
won
Topic
#4120

The Gender Pay Gap doesn't exist.

Status
Finished

The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.

Winner & statistics
Winner
2
4

After 4 votes and with 2 points ahead, the winner is...

Barney
Parameters
Publication date
Last updated date
Type
Standard
Number of rounds
4
Time for argument
Three days
Max argument characters
10,000
Voting period
Two weeks
Point system
Winner selection
Voting system
Open
Contender / Con
4
1815
rating
50
debates
100.0%
won
Description

This is not my real position, but I will be assuming the role of Pro in this debate. I will be arguing that gender pay gap is not real.
Debate is on-balance.

Criterion
Pro
Tie
Con
Points
Winner
1 point(s)
Reason:

Pro concedes the debate with the following sentences:

"There will be some professions where statistically, men make more than women."
"As it currently stands, there are likewise professions where women make more than men."
"The Gender Pay Gap doesn't exist, but the Reverse Gender Pay Gap does."
"In different professions, the statistical evidence may very well show that women come to earn more than men or the reverse."

Honestly, after all this, Con's argument is dispensable. Pro acknowledges the existence of a gender pay gap. He challenges whether it exists because of gender discrimination, but the title of the debate is "The Gender Pay Gap doesn't exist." Cause is irrelevant. Amount is irrelevant. Direction (favoring men or women) is irrelevant. Its existence is all that is relevant. Con demonstrates that one exists and does so at 7%. Pro's only reason why this does not hold is because it's the number of people in a given career from each gender, which again, is about what the cause is, not whether it exists. Pro concedes the debate, Con wins.

Criterion
Pro
Tie
Con
Points
Winner
1 point(s)
Reason:

fawaddwaaaaaaaa

Criterion
Pro
Tie
Con
Points
Winner
1 point(s)
Reason:

I’m unclear what the definition of “gender pay gap,” for the purposes of this debate, is. If the definition is simply “a difference in average earnings between men and women,” the topic is a truism, because you don’t even have to consider the additional factors Pro names in R1. However, the debaters seem to agree that, in broad terms, what matters is whether men and women in similar professions have a gap in pay per hours worked.

Pro’s claim that the pay gap is not because of gender discrimination is non-topical, because, as Con points out, this debate isn’t about whether gender discrimination caused a pay gap, only about whether it exists. Pro has two remaining claims. First, they argue that most discussions of the pay gap don’t account for factors like career choice and hours worked. Con observes that Pro’s source concedes that, even after making the adjustments Pro wants, you end up with a pay gap of $0.07 per hour -- and this isn’t a negligible amount, as these amounts add up. Second, they argue that there are some professions where women get more hourly pay, and others where men get more hourly pay. But Pro’s own definition, in R1, notes that what matters is the average difference. Con uses examples to show that the magnitude of difference is larger in the latter cases. Besides, the fact that a $0.07 gap exists suggests that there are either more professions where men earn more than women, or the magnitude of the differences is bigger. Besides, I’m broadly compelled that a “reverse pay gap” continues to be a pay gap, as Con points out, and hence doesn’t affirm the resolution.

Hence, I vote Con.

Criterion
Pro
Tie
Con
Points
Winner
1 point(s)
Reason:

Tied votes need no justification apparently