Basically, men earn more than women because they need to.Bunch of engineers went out to lunch, and one made the PC comment about the waitress (who was gorgeous) that “Nobody gave her a chance to be an engineer.” Following Warren Farrell I replied, “I’m going to teach her Calculus. But first you have to do the easy part, and convince her that she can’t attract the opposite sex unless she learns it.”
That put paid to that subject.
In my experience, women simply don’t want to work the hours; even when they are given false promotions and raises to fend off lawsuits, many still work the bare minimum - and children have nothing to do with it. Those who don’t have children use their pets or parents as an excuse to keep their work to a bare minimum. A few years back, I joined the other men in following suit - and the boss can’t do a damned thing about it.