ABSTRACT
The first issue, however, is whether there is even a problem which needs to be explained. Those who believe in the primacy and the efficacy of the free market as the allocator of jobs and resources would argue that both the pay which women receive and the jobs which they perform are the result of market economics mediated by the free choices of the individuals concerned. On this view, the price of labour is determined in precisely the same way as the price of any other product, namely supply and demand. Wage levels are the lowest which the employer can pay while at the same time maintaining the ability to attract employees.
