Sunday, October 29, 2006

It's a Man's World? Not Much Longer

We men have done such a terrific job of running this planet that maybe it's time to let the other half show us what they can do. I, for one, think that is an idea worth tossing about.

According to The New York Times, a serious power shift from men to women is already well underway.

"We are perhaps on the first step to a matriarchal society; women will earn more money than men if current trends continue by 2028,” said Michael J. Silverstein of the Boston Consulting Group. “The trend has been escalating in the last 10 years as there has been a gradual, slow erosion of the power balance in the family, a psychic rebalancing.”

"Women, Mr. Silverstein added, are “controlling purchases and driving a shift in our economy.”

"Much of that shift has to do with education and pay. At American colleges and universities, women represent 57 percent of undergraduate classes and 58 percent of graduate classes, according to the American Council on Education. (They also hold a slight majority in the overall population.) And education, in turn, has helped to bolster salaries and income. In 2005, government data show, women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median weekly earnings of $585, or 81 percent of the $722 median for their male counterparts, up from about 63 percent in 1979."

Let's face it, she who controls the wealth is she who holds the power, or at least a good deal of it. With purchasing power comes economic clout and with that, eventually, matching political clout. And why not?

No comments: