Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Yet another ridiculous study pops up, purporting to show how mothers should be paid some outrageously high salary. This one even comes with a link to a salary calculator.

Unfortunately -- as you might imagine -- there is no explanation available as to how exactly these "salaries" are calculated. Nor is it explained how a mother manages to qualify as a psychologist (other than amateur), a facilities manager, or a CEO.

Indeed, most people could claim that their job entails quite a number of rather esoteric functions. Some time back, The Old Sarge noted that he should qualify as a babysitter, mediator, groundskeeper, management consultant, and systems analyst. Given that, his paycheck would have to be at least triple what it was.

It's always intriguing, of course, when people with a political agenda make these sorts of wild-eyed claims without revealing any of their raw data or methods of calculation.