New Hampshire state Republican Rep. Will Infantine said the gender pay gap exists because men work harder and longer hours.
Infantine, whose remarks were captured by a progressive group and reported by The Huffington Post, said men are “more motivated by money” than women during a speech on the House floor.
“Men by and large make more because of some of the things they do. Their jobs are, by and large, more riskier,” he said. “They don’t mind working nights and weekends. They don’t mind working overtime, or outdoors in the elements.”
“Men work five or six hours longer a week than women do. When it comes to women and men who own businesses,” he continued. “Women make half of what men do because of flexibility of work, men are more motivated by money than women are.”
Infantine’s remarks were met with protests from other lawmakers. He said there are Bureau of Labor Statistics data to back up his claim.
“It’s not just me,” he said. “Guys! I’m not making this stuff up!”
The BLS did find that men work, on average, 55 minutes longer than employed women in 2012. But another study in the same year found that while men in developed nations do work longer hours on the job than women, the women actually end up working more hours a day when you account for unpaid labor, like housework and childcare.
Jane Timm