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From: ed@mtxinu.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: Re: Allstate Insurance says women do
Message-ID: <121@mtxinu.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 29-May-84 17:13:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: mtxinu.121
Posted: Tue May 29 17:13:17 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 1-Jun-84 07:21:19 EDT
References: <16100003@hp-pcd.UUCP>
Organization: mt Xinu, Berkeley
Lines: 50

If Mormans are better insurance risks because they don't drink or
smoke, then they should get a better rate because of that,
not because of their religious beliefs.  I, not a Mormon,
get a lower rate because I don't smoke.

It's clear that there are certain habits that contribute
to bad driving.  Smoking and drinking have been identified
as such and information about them has been used in an
appropriate way.  Insurance, however, is a peculiar device.
Basically, it is a way for the individual to be protected
against disaster by the collaberation of the masses.  The
insurance companies take a cut off the top to provide the
clearing house service, and to keep claims within reason
(a job they *sometimes* even do).  The net result of any
insurance scheme, in the idealized case where there is noone
profiting from the dynamics of insurance, should be that
each individual gets out what they pay in, over time.
(That is to say, in gaming terms, that it is a zero payoff
game.)

However, this discussion started with the observation that
Allstate pays women less than men, and that they believe
that they're right to do so.  Ellen hit the nail right on the
head when she noted that there is statistical evidence that
women are safer drivers, but no such evidence that they
perform differently in the workplace.

Valid statistical differences (and for some insights into just
what I mean by *valid*, I commend "The Mismeasure of Man"
by Stephen Jay Gould [no relation, by the way] to the
reader's attention) are a reasonable basis for determining
insurance rates so that a zero-payoff situation can be maintained.
However, when we deal with pay and work, we are dealing with
the worth of people, not how likely they are to make a claim
against the insurance fund.  Those who would pay women less than
men are saying that women are worth less, not only as workers
but as people.  If we are to recognize that women are as much
people as are men, we must pay them as such.

Enough for now!  In closing, I'll recommend "The Cinderella
Complex" again, for insights into why it is that many women
choose lower-paying jobs and/or careers.

(And not only do women deserve equal pay in the workplace, but
an equal voice!  For that matter, most of the men need more
voice in the workplace, too.)

-- 
Ed Gould
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