On March 25th of 2025, Patrice Onwuka wrote an article for the Independent Women’s Forum entitled “To close the pay gap, make different choices.” In this article, she claims: “There is no gender pay gap. This is a simple truth hidden from generations of women because it contradicts the Left’s narrative about victimhood in the workforce.” Gender wage gap is a prolonged topic that comes along with the issue of women not being paid well for the same job and position they share with other men. The UN describes the gender pay gap with the following words: “Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls continue to be held back owing to the persistence of historical and structural unequal power relations between women and men, poverty and inequalities and disadvantages in access to resources and opportunities that limit women’s and girls’ capabilities”.
This issue has been proven by various organizations that women are paid a certain percentage less than men in the same field of work. While it is true that the unadjusted pay gap includes many variables beyond discrimination, the claim that “there is no gender pay gap” ignores well-documented evidence to the contrary. The World Economic Forum, in their report ‘The 2025 Global Gender Gap Index,’ concluded that no economy has yet achieved full gender parity, where Iceland (92.6%) continues to lead the Global Gender Gap Index.
Patrice Onwuka, the author of the claim, was born in the Caribbean but raised in Boston after her family immigrated there. She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Tufts University and a master’s degree in international relations from Boston College. According to Congress.gov, a website maintained by the U.S. Library of Congress, Patrice regularly testifies before Congress and state legislatures. She collaborates with congressional and state leaders, providing briefings to federal agency heads. In addition to her policy work, Onwuka is a prolific writer and media commentator. Her opinion pieces have been published in publications such as the Washington Post, USA Today, CNBC, etc., showcasing her significant positions in journalism and politics.
“If women made different choices, they could earn as much money as men.”
Patrice Onwuka
In her article, Onwuka goes on to list various thoroughly researched arguments supporting her statement. This statement, however, goes against the common consensus and mainstream media reporting about the subject. Onwuka quotes the Bureau of Labor Statistics herself, which found that women’s earnings were about 83.6% of men’s in 2023. This is due to various reasons, which she explains in her article. Most media outlets and experts on the topic agree that this is a product of the systemic undervaluation of women and an issue that has to be resolved. Onwuka comes to a different conclusion. She tries to justify the gap in earnings and the resulting economic disadvantages for women by saying women just do not make the right choices. Onwuka also accuses “the Left” of intentionally spreading information about the wage gap to serve their narrative.
Here, the question arises: why does Onwuka have such a different view on the issue of the gender pay gap? At the very beginning of her article, she uses a mocking tone to describe the commemoration day, Equal Pay Day, and the way it is meant to raise awareness for the subject. She goes on to call the common use of the Bureau of Labor Statistics results on the wage gap a “misleading tactic into thinking that they [women] are unfairly underpaid”. Onwuka goes on to claim that the pay gap disappears when controlled for factors like occupation, job level, experience, job title, education, and hours worked. These, she says, are choices everyone has, and if women made different choices, they could earn as much money as men.
However, as per Payscale’s annual 2025 Gender Pay Gap Report (GPGR), which is based on data collected from the United States showcases that despite accounting for factors like job title, education, and qualifications, this pay gap still remains with women in the US earning $0.99 for every dollar earned by men, thus showcasing that women earn less for the same work in comparison to their male counterparts.
One reason why many women work fewer hours and more part-time jobs is for example, that women are the ones tackling most of the unpaid care work in any household, not leaving them with enough time and resources to commit more hours to paying jobs.
Mothers and fathers are treated differently
The wage gap is not as simple as men getting paid more than women. Several factors keep women from catching up to men in their field, especially pregnant women and women with children. In her article, Onwuka makes the statement, “Additionally, caregiving. Motherhood is the overarching motivator behind the choices women make. There’s virtually no pay gap for young workers.” While Onwuka is correct in stating that there is almost no wage disparity between younger workers in the U.S, as proven by a study of America’s wage gap conducted by The Pew Research Center in 2023 where they state: “There are 107 metros [metropolitan city] where young women earn between 90% and 99% of what young men earn.” The statement does not disprove the wage gap and actually affirms wage inequality between men and women with children. One of the main reasons for this is called the “fatherhood wage premium.”
In a separate article, the Pew Research Center focuses on the wage gap between mothers and fathers. The center reported that men who have children tend to get a pay increase, whereas mothers actually see a decrease in pay or a decrease in potential promotions, hindering women from reaching wage parity with their counterparts.
This phenomenon is not unique to the US but a world wide issue. Within the Hub for Equal Representation in the Economy at the London School of Economics a study was conducted in 2023 called the “child penalty atlas”. This study looks at the earnings of women worldwide before and after having children and compared to men’s. Results show a 37% drop in wages for women in Latin America after their first child, making it the continent with the highest child penalty. The lowest penalty is in Africa, with a 8% drop in earnings after the first child for women. These statistics prove that the wage gap is evident and is not a myth or buzzword for the leftist party, like the original author claims.
Some fields women work in pay lower wages
Onwuka quotes a statistic that shows that women tend to major in fields that are less profitable than the ones men major in. However, she does not question why that is. The industries women tend to choose, like humanities or education, are by no means less important, just not valued the same as, for example, engineering or business. Instead of pushing women into jobs that are more profitable like computer science or aerospace engineering, industries like medical programs, education or social work could be valued more appropriately and their workers paid fairly.
Taking all of this into consideration, Onwuka’s claim that the gender pay gap does not exist is mostly false. While she uses reputable sources with accurate data in her article, she interprets these facts in a misleading way and draws false conclusions from them. And even though it is true that part of the reason why women earn less money than men is that they statistically work less hours, less dangerous jobs and in less financially profitable industries, this is not due to the fact that women just make wrong choices. There are many societal and systemic reasons behind these factors and looking at any individual solely through a lens of economic success reduces and oversimplifies the dynamics at play.
RESEARCH | ARTICLE © Subrishti Karki, Hannah Hayes, Fenia Rienecker, Aditi Shrestha
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