Divorces, compatibility, and wages

It appears that the amount of divorces has been accelerating in Britain quite drastically recently. It's not really that surprising considering how the banking industry is in quite a turmoil and all the trophy wives are packing their bags and leaving while they can still take a part of their spouses' fortunes with them.

But on a more positive note, The Times ran a story a year and a half back about how successful men are ditching their trophy wives. This is of course a nice thing and personally I'm also a believer in the view that my wife should also aim high (i.e. I'm not taking any freeloaders with me). So hopefully in the future the time for gold diggers in this area will be over. Of course this spawns new questions (or old questions) about gender equality, values, and compatibility. What sort of people are compatible? Why? Where's the balance between home and work lives and how the children are raised? And so on...

Anyway, the article from The Times brings some other interesting views. Previously the concept of trophy wife has been a pejorative one, but now that successful men are looking for successful women, worries about equality and elite "power couples" arise. I guess we can never be satisfied with any sort of state we're in. And in a related topic, wage equality has been a big topic in Finland again recently with some journalists writing about how women should demand higher salaries. And this is a very good point, since women should demand higher salaries if they feel they want and deserve higher salaries! Actually, that guidance is not even gender specific, since that's what I also do.

Related to the wage equalities, Helsingin Sanomat recently released a story where someone had interviewed male and female graduates and asked them how much they would like to get paid in the initial job. Men were asking for over 4 000 euros per year more than their female counterparts! Additional studies suggest that men are able to increase the wage disparity by switching jobs often and achieving raises that way, whereas women are much more loyal to their employers and do not move as much. So, in light of this, I'm all for gender equality, but right now I think that instead of just bitching and moaning about it, women should actively pursue higher wages by actions instead of just pointing fingers around. It may be that previously the playing field has been biased towards men, but the field is evening out right now, so the old excuses of gender-based racism just don't cut it anymore.

And on an entirely different note, I recently ordered some fabric samples from the UK, so I'll hopefully be able to get my suits for this autumn ordered pretty soon! And I'm waiting for my brand-spankin'-new, custom-made shoes from Left to arrive some time during next week. Life's certainly good right now.