mportant question
which underlies all understanding of the position of woman in modern
industry--"Why are women paid less wages than men?"

In almost all kinds of work in which both men and women are engaged,
the women earn less than the men. Where men and women are engaged in
the same industries but in different branches, the wage level of the
woman's work is nearly always lower than that of the men. A general
survey of industry shows that the highly-paid industries are almost
invariably monopolised by men, the lowly-paid industries by women.
This applies not only to unskilled and skilled manual work, but to
routine-mental, intellectual, and artistic work,[245] wherever custom
or competition are the chief direct determinants of wages. Certain
exceptions to this rule, which readily suggest themselves, are
explained by the fact that the wages of the labour in question are
determined not by custom or competition, but by some other law. Where
the product is of the highest intellectual or artistic quality, sex
makes no difference in the price; "the rent of ability" of George
Eliot or Madame Patti is determined by the law of monopoly values. In
certain employments, as, for instance, the stage, sexual attractions
give women a positive advantage, which in certain grades of the
profession assist them to secure a high level of remuneration. So also
in a few cases governments or private employers pay women as highly as
men for the same work, though women could be got to work for less. But
even in those occupations where women would seem to be most nearly
upon an economic equality with men, in literature, art, or the stage,
the scale of pay for all work, save that where special skill, personal
attraction, or reputation secures a "fancy" price, is lower for women
than for men.

Sec. 4. It is easy to find answers to the question, "Why are women paid
less than men?" which evidently contain an element of truth. Three
answers leap readily to the lips: "Because women cannot work so hard
or so well," "Because women can live upon less than men," "Because it
is more difficult for a woman to get wage-work." Each of these answers
comprises not one reason but a group of reasons why women get low
wages, and the difficulty lies in relating the different reasons in
these different groups so as to yield something that shall approach an
accurate solution of the problem. Setting these groups in somewhat
more exact language, we may classify the ca