Today a bit from the social marketing corner… (or lack of it)

Sad statistics from Europe…

In the European Union, which set out its principle of equal pay for equal work 50 years ago, gross hourly wages for men were 17.4% higher than for women in 2007 (The Economist, 2009 - for comparison world average is 16%)

More sad news:
Many believe education is the key to closing the gap, but on the contrary, one
of the most sobering findings of this report is that more educated women
often find themselves on the wrong side of an even bigger pay gap. (The Global
Gender Pay Gap, ITUC, International Trade Union Confederation,
February 2008)

and a double edge-sword comes here:

While globalization can sometimes appear to be narrowing the gender gap –
in fact women’s pay is not rising at all, instead the increasingly competitive
global labour market is responsible for driving down the wages of men. (The Global
Gender Pay Gap, ITUC, International Trade Union Confederation,
February 2008)

I can’t help, but wonder why? Next thing are all the creative ideas… (I know world isn’t perfect, but) it seems like this is a good cause for a social marketing campaign targeted to all these ambitious, hard-working collage students (of both genders…).
P.S. Another question is who makes these paycheck decisions - CEOs, HR Departments, Presidents?  I am really curious about the rationale!