The Pay of Parking Lot Attendants
by Myriam Miedzian
The Conversation
September 2nd, 2011
Hymowitz argues that childcare workers earn less than parking lot attendants because there are “enough childcare workers available to keep salaries low,” not because women’s jobs have traditionally been paid less. But if it’s all a question of supply and demand, then higher male unemployment and the availability of recent male immigrants who do not speak English beyond a few phrases–and who unlike daycare workers do not need to–indicates that there is a higher supply of parking lot attendants than child daycare workers. So according to her argument, it is they who should be earning less.
