Good, experienced caregivers are in higher demand than virtually any other profession. They are not getting paid more.
Doctors are paid far more in the United States compared than in other high income countries and yet our health outcomes are worse than these same countries.
Yes, we should work to get more female software engineers. We should also question our pay scales. We should also work to get more male caregivers. I never argue that a receptionist should the same amount as a doctor or engineer. But, as is the case with current CEO vs. worker salary ratios, should a receptionist make 0.25% of a CEO salary?
The market is clearly flawed. How we define our pay scales should acknowledge these flaws.
I'm also going to copy and paste the response from another software engineer to this article:
"I am a software “engineer,” and I could not agree more with this article. I would take a 50% pay cut tomorrow, no questions asked, if we could double the pay to essential positions in our society like teachers and nurses. Yes, my job is difficult and requires a lot of skill, but I am not exposed to any hazards, nor do I need to care for other humans, nothing I do (at least with the software I make) has a life or death impact nor could scar somebody for life or destroy their self esteem. Our economy undervalues heathcare and education and puts jobs which are yes, skilled and difficult, but not worship worthy, up on a podium, which ironically includes doctors (highly valued and worthy, but some of that money needs to flow down to the nurses who are abused by the system yet providing the most care to patients), lawyers, and engineers (be it with a capital E or of the software variety like me).
And on a less hyperbolic sense than the above, I totally understand that pizza doesn’t cook itself and isn’t especially hard to make yet damn am I glad to be able to order out. Shouldn’t minimum wage be more or less livable if we desire to keep folks around in sectors that we consume from yet talk shit about when discussing compensation? That, or dramatically reinvent the way those jobs are performed?"
