but left to a free market women on average earn less then men. There are a number of reasons for this to be true from the types of degrees they get in college on the high end of the pay scale to their ability to skilled manual labor on the lower end. Throw in the fact they tend have wholes in the careers where they took off to raise children.

There is also a culture aspect as well. Successful and well off men have no problem marrying women who are not going to match their earning potential. Successful women on the other hand tend to want successful men as partners. The logical result of all that is there is much smaller fast tract to being financially secure for men then there is for women so there greater pressure on them to succeed.