Such good points! Your mother was very wise. So many people seem to think the gender pay gap is just about a woman making less than the man sitting in the cubicle next to her. It goes so much deeper than that -- for instance, no social security benefits and general lack of financial security for anyone who takes on a caregiving role (whether unpaid or underpaid). There are so many factors that get totally swept under the rug. Then men, including some commenters of this article, want to yell at me in all caps about how the gender pay gap doesn't exist.