The gender pay gap does not exist
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Gender pay gap statistics are being misinterpreted by people who fail to take other factors into account.
People are misreading gender pay gap statistics and assuming that substantial pay gaps within companies are due to gender discrimination, when in reality its due to female employees choosing to work in positions that pay less.
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The Argument
RyanAir was criticized in 2018 for having the worst gender pay gap in airline history. RyanAir had a gender pay gap of 72%, compared to EasyJet which had a 45% pay gap.
“Median hourly pay among Ryanair’s 1,182 UK staff is 71.8% lower for women (67% lower on mean hourly pay), while median bonus pay for women was 3% lower (with a mean difference of 21%).” [1] However, this doesn’t mean that women are being paid less for performing the same role. It simply reflects the fact that the majority of women working for RyanAir are flight attendants. The majority of pilots who work for RyanAir, who make considerably more money than flight attendants, are men. There is no gender discrimination involved, as a woman deciding to pursue a career as a flight attendant rather than as a pilot is her own personal choice. Any pay gap is purely coincidental and unrelated to gender.
Counter arguments
Systemic gender discrimination that results in a pay gap still exists because women are not being encouraged by society to pursue high paying occupations, such as being a pilot. Even though women who work for RyanAir are choosing to be flight attendants, the fact that they are doing so indicates that women are not being told to aim high, and that women don't feel comfortable or welcome in a workplace that is dominated by men.
Premises
[P1] People misunderstand statistics and believe that companies are paying female employees less, when in reality women are just more likely to pursue lower paying positions within a company.