The 180

Is more money the best way to fix the gender wage gap?

McMaster University has come up with a straight-forward approach to the gap in pay between men and women. Give women a salary top up. Miana Plesca is an Economist at the University of Guelph, and says simply giving more money to women will not solve the problem of the pay gap.
An auditorium at McMaster's Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences Department. Female faculty at the University are getting an increase in pay to address a difference in salaries with male faculty. (John Rieti/CBC)

McMaster University has come up with a straight-forward approach to the gap in pay between men and women. Give women the extra money in a yearly payment of about $3000. 

The university examined the pay between male and female faculty members, found a significant difference, and will now top up the pay of its female staff. 

Miana Plesca is an associate professor of Economics at the University of Guelph, and says simply giving more money to women will not solve the pay gap.

While McMaster's approach might work for the University, Plesca says, in the greater economy giving more money to women wouldn't get to the root causes of pay inequity.

What would? Among other things, she suggests making sure men take more responsibility for rearing children.