We hear a lot about the pay gap between men and women. This is allegedly the result of sexism against women although it is really the result of the different choices men and women make about their work and home balance. Women tend to choose home over work if forced and that will obviously affect their earnings.

However, a new pay gap is emerging and men are on the wrong side of it this time. It exists between unmarried women and childless women in their 30s and their male counterparts. Women in this category earn more than men in the same category.

This stands to reason. In general, women today are better educated than men meaning they are going to get better jobs. In addition, women in these two brackets are able to devote themselves full-time to their jobs which will allow them to maximise their earnings.

Is this new pay gap the result of sexism, except this time anti-man sexism? The answer is almost certainly, no. It is the result of the aforementioned better education.

Why is it that as the women grow older and begin to have children their earnings begins to fall behind those of men? The answer was given above, they begin to devote less time to work and more time to their children and the great majority are happy to do this because only 20pc or so of women opt for a full-time career as their life-style choice. Most women with children prefer to work part-time.

In any event, here is a useful blog from ‘think-tanker’ Reihan Salam that fleshes out the topic.