In honor of National Women’s History month, this week's article is dedicated to the wage gap. To be quite honest I find it ridiculous that it’s 2017 and there are still people who believe the wage gap is a myth. It’s not a myth. It’s a fact.

We all know that the leading statistic about the wage gap is that women make 79 cents for every dollar a man makes. Many people argue that the wage gap is all about averages. They think that the only reason that there even is a wage gap is because of the types of jobs that men and women have. While that does play a part, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a wage gap. 79 cents is the average gap. In some professions, it is bigger and in some it is smaller.

In the graphic below you can see the different pay gaps. This graphic controls for age, race, hours and education. That means that the only difference between these workers is their gender. So, if the pay gap only existed because of the jobs woman pick, there would be no gap within jobs, but that is obviously not the case.

So, what is the cause of the gender wage gap? One of the main causes is the structure of the job market. Claudia Goldin, a professor at Harvard, found that “firms disproportionally reward individuals who labored long hours and worked particular hours.” This disadvantages caregivers because they can’t work these hours; instead they have to take care of their children. Caregivers are disproportionally female, so the structure of the job market is affecting them the most.

Goldin also found that “Jobs in which employees can easily substitute for one another have the slimmest pay gaps, and those workers are paid in proportion to the hours they work.” This idea is illustrated in the graph below.

Looking at the graph you can see that yellow and green dots cluster towards top. The yellow and green dots are science and technology jobs. This means science and technology jobs have smaller wage gaps. This is because it doesn’t matter when a scientist works as long as they get their work done. These jobs are by their nature more flexible.

Again if we look at the red dots near bottom we see that they have larger wage gaps. The red dots are business jobs. Business jobs have a structured 9-to-5 work schedule, so their gap is a lot larger. Workers have to be there at those times and if they aren’t, they’re penalized. Since women have to take care of their kids it is a lot harder for them to commit to a 9-to-5 work day, causing this pay gap.

Pharmacists are a great example of how well restructuring the job market works. Before the job structure changed, female pharmacists only made 66 percent of what male pharmacists made. Now they make 92 percent of what male pharmacists make, way over the average. Today large chains open pharmacies rather than privately owned small shops, which require employees to work the whole time the pharmacy is open. Hours have become more flexible, so there are no rewards for working longer, closing the pay gap.

And for anyone who doesn’t think this affects them and is asking why should I care? Here’s why. Longer hours can cause major physical and mental health problems. By restructuring the job market your health will increase. Additionally, long work hours are unproductive. Therefore, working fewer, more flexible hours will not only decrease the pay gap, but also make companies more productive.

Most advocates for eliminating the wage gap have pressed for new legislation. But we haven’t gotten very far in passing legislation eliminating unequal pay or promoting transparency in the work place. It’s clear that we need to start pursuing other ways of eliminating the wage gap. Restructuring the job market is a new solution we can try.

Everyone deserves equal pay for equal work. I am not worth 79 percent of my male counterparts. It’s time for action. By becoming advocates and dispelling the myths surrounding the wage gap we can make a change. Besides, how can America call itself the greatest nation in the world when it isn’t following one of its founding principles?