[This is part of the series: The Complete Guide To Economics 101.]
What is wage discrimination?
Exactly what it sounds like.
Wage Discrimination is different pay for individuals who differ by race, sex, age, ethnic group, religion, or about anything else.
For instance, and on average, a 40 year old – white man – with a graduate degree, 10 years of experience, and native of Russia, should earn the same as a 40 year old – black man – with a graduate degree, 10 years of experience, and native of Russia.
Most people favor others that they have more in common with, but It is hard to systematically find much wage discrimination while holding all other variables constant.
Why? Because the market just doesn’t care.
This why gender discrimination is not real.
If it were, a business could save 23% of their labor costs by firing all the men, and only hiring women.