Fair play?

I will usually introduce a video, but this time I am just going to say …. please watch it! It was produced in Norway … has so far received well over 27 million views … lasts just over 2 minutes … features children … enjoy!

This video makes a very obvious statement about pay inequality, but what is it really saying?

Any discussion I hear on this topic is usually negatively focused on the employer being unfair, and the inference is always that a woman’s pay rate should be brought up to equal a man’s rate. This video does not support that view because the boys are giving the girls some of their reward to make things equal. Note that the adults did not top up the girls reward.

It is so easy to acknowledge the unfairness of unequal pay, and expect the employer to correct the situation (it’s always easier to expect somebody else to resolve an issue)… but perhaps we should also take some ownership of the problem, and then become at least part of the solution?

This poses an interesting question to all the men: Would you be prepared to take a cut in salary, if the women’s salary is increased proportionately so that equality is achieved?

It’s a very interesting video!

20 thoughts on “Fair play?”

  3. When I started working in the 60s, the progression lines were different for men and women with the men starting at a higher salary and making better advances. Eventually they did away with that and merged seniority promotions. That was only one part. Promotions were still skewed toward men because of attitudes even though there was equal pay for equal jobs. Hopefully that is changing. Women even had a dress code. Men’s dress code wasn’t near as strict or complicated. (Didn’t somebody sing a song about rules, rules, everywhere rules?) As one of your commenters talked about when looking at pay, the jobs must be equal and the experience level and production level too. I’ve read about some actors giving up money to equalize everyone on the program. There was one instance where our CEO gave up a few hundred dollars to an up and coming female exec because we ran out of funds and he wanted her salary higher to encourage her to stay. However, I believe that is rare. Kids are our future. There is hope.

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  4. This happened to me years ago, and when I went to the boss, he said it was because the man was free to travel but I wasn’t (I had children). When I pointed out both that our job did not involve travel and that I never said I couldn’t, he just shrugged his shoulders. Shortly after, I found another job. Looking back, I should have sued.

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    • Hindsight is wonderful isn’t it! Looking for another job was (to me) the best decision to make. Clearly the work culture was giving you a problem and, given your options, It would have been more rewarding getting another job than it would have been to fight an “inbred” culture. Sometimes it is worth fighting for a principle … and sometimes not! 🙂

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  5. Just got to love the kids reaction, and so wonderful they shared their ‘wages’ more equally without punch ups or arguments! These kids are our future, but current adults will influence them and as you say, it all goes downhill then.

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  6. Interesting video indeed. Well done. I love that the boys shared their rewards with the girls. Not one of them asked the adult to give the girls more. They just knew it was the right thing to do.

    The expression on the one girl’s face when she was told she got less ‘because she was a girl’ is absolutely priceless!

    Age old problem that may actually be taking a turn for the better, but only if the adults take a cue from these kids to own up to their part in this unfair practice .

    I just want to hug all these kids. They are so adorable and have such a grasp on fair play.
    🔹Ginger🔹

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    • Agreed, but then, kids have a grasp on so much more don’t they. Like accepting other children who are different in some way. They are fine until they start being influenced by adults, and then it often goes downhill from there!

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  7. Wow! The ending was a nice surprise. I figured the girls reward would be less but I didn’t expect the boys to give some of theirs to make it equal.
    You are right, unfair wages are usually blamed on the employer. This video puts a twist on that.
    Thanks for the sharing. Puts a different perspective on something that has been a problem for quite a long time. I think it is better than it was years ago but still room for improvement and I don’t know how it is in different Countries.
    A couple weeks ago actually my youngest said their teacher was talking about the unequal pay. My 10th grader didn’t think their teacher was making a good argument about the unfair wages for she wasn’t comparing equal jobs. She came across as having a ‘chip on her shoulder’ over the whole thing in my child’s mind.

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    • Sadly, presenting a case based on one sided/biased/logistically flawed opinions is not too productive. Was your 10th grader able to express his thoughts and perhaps get some clarification?
      Inequality of the sexes has a very long history, and obviously cannot be expected to be resolved “over night”, but it is good if the schools are presenting it to the students. It could well be their generation that actually see real equality.

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      • He tried but unfortunately I don’t think it went over too well. I agree it should be talked about in the schools but not by someone that is going to present it in a bias way. It sounded to me like she was having more of a problem with the pay she got as a teacher and what a man got at a business job.
        You can’t compare apples to oranges.
        .

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        • No that’s just nonsense. Teachers, like doctors, nurses and no doubt every other profession, has a small contingent of those who should really look for an alternative career. It sounds like that teacher’s agenda was simply to promote her opinion, rather than create an informative and thought provoking discussion where various perspectives could be reviewed. Such a loss of an education opportunity.

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