The place where I work is hiring graphic designers. We interviewed a girl who did a great job at the tests we gave her and seemed like a fun, friendly person. I suggested that we hire her based off of what I saw, and my boss agreed. He offered her the position and after some thought, she turned it down.

She already has a job where she gets paid much less, but has fewer responsibilities, and gets more time off. After crunching the numbers, the dollar value of the time is actually less than what she would be paid if she came and work for us, but she prefers the flexibility there over the money here.

I don't begrudge the girl for wanting to do a job where she has more time off, or where she can just relax and coast. I know that money isn't the only factor when deciding on a new job. Her passing on the offer is a totally valid choice and I support her, but on the same hand because she made that choice, she is statistically reinforcing the notion that women get paid less than men do.

By making the conscious choice to get paid less in exchange for easier work and more free time, she is a clear example of how women's choices lead to the pay gap.

I wanted to share this to remind everyone that "women make different choices" is not just an abstract argument when discussing the pay gap. It's real and I've seen it.