I've had this discussion quite a bit, and it's tough to break the 77 cents on the dollar and whatnot rhetoric, because those people are convinced that a man and a woman doing the same job with equal experience, the woman just automatically makes on average 23% less than a man. And it's easy to prove that wrong, and entirely misses the point.

With the pervasiveness of social media, outrage culture, and, frankly, the steadily increasing difficulty to finding credible sources of information... it's just far too easy to just revert to our baser "tribalistic" tendencies and blame someone and get mad. Toss into the mix the fact that a lot of these topics are sensitive issues and boy howdy EVERYTHING is a powderkeg and ONLY black and white despite evidence to the contrary.

[...] Now, I imagine a lot has changed in 23 years, so maybe that mentality has changed, but if all else is fixed and there is a "pay gap" based on choice like that... that's not a problem that needs to be solved.

Agreed on this point. Different strokes for different folks.

So to recap, we need to stop talking about cents on the dollar and start talking about making rejoining the workforce more available and appealing after having babies, and giving dads more time with their kids to let their wives work.

I'd really like to see a world where it'd be possible for both parents to get leave, be able to work part time while not being put in a financially dire situation, and still have access to crucial things like affordable healthcare and insurance. A pipedream - without question... but one can hope.