Oh Good, If Women Want to Earn More Money They Have to Wear Make-Up to Work

Ladies, we've got some GREAT news for you today! We've ​finally ​worked out how to ensure we earn the kind of money we deserve, and not just a pitiful fraction of our male counterparts' salaries simply because we're in ​possession of a vagina!

And the best bit? It's ​so ​easy to do! All we have to remember each morning is to put on a full face of make-up, because according to a new study, that's the only way we can get ahead.

...Oh.

The research paper, 'Gender and the Returns to Attractiveness', describes a study carried out by sociologists Jaclyn Wong and Andrew Penner​, where information from more than 14,000 subjects was scrutinised to assess whether there really is any correlation between how attractive women make themselves up to be at work, and how much they earn. 

Depressing that this kind of research even has to be done, right?

While it's already been established scientifically that more attractive people - that includes men and women, by the way - tend to earn more (what a shallow world we live in), this study aimed to examine whether this was much more of a common theme for women than for men. It also sought to discover whether 'grooming' played more of a role in boosting women's incomes than men's.

And true to form, researchers ​did ​find that women who outwardly look after themselves more - wearing make-up to work and taking time over their hair, for example - have a higher level of earning than the girls who prefer to roll out of bed and onto their desk chair. 

Men, however? It seems they can wear all the hair gel and nice cologne they won't, but it won't make a damn bit of difference, because they're rewarded on their merit, funnily enough.

Why can't it just be the same for everyone? Is that really so much to ask? 

But despite the fact women have been banging on about the gender pay gap now for a longer period of time than seems fair, and that research into this issue is continually being carried out, recent statistics show that it's not making much of a difference. Women are ​still ​being penalised financially for their gender.

The latest stats, carried out by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), reveal that women earn an average of 18% less than men, with this disparity growing even further after having children.  And that's on top of another report released this week which indicates that male managers have a 40% greater chance of being promoted than their female colleagues.

But we're determined to close that gap without having to invest in a bag full of slap to make us look pretty. It shouldn't come down to that. Women can wear makeup to work if they want, but no female should feel pushed into a corner (or a beauty salon) just to feel like she's improving her career.

That much is clear, anyway. Now we've just got to work out how to sort it out.

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