Being a woman will cost you almost half a million over your lifetime - just for being female.

[davidn3600]

76. Absolutely......

Men spend about 10 hours a week more than women in paid work, and women spend about six hours more in household work and an additional three hours more in child care, says the analysis, by the Pew Research Center.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/14/men-women-work-time/1983271/

43% of highly qualified women with children are leaving careers or off-ramping for a period of time." This is me. I am the 43 percent. For those of us who left the traditional workforce to raise their kids with full intention of returning to the workplace, Sheryl Sandberg provides no advice or strategies for re-entry.
http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/04/why-43-of-women-with-children-leave-their-jobs-and-how-to-get-them-back/275134/

It varies from family to family, but moms are 10 times more likely than dads to skip work to care for an ill child.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/who-stays-home-when-the-kids-are-sick/382011/

Research shows the average man takes a total of 140 days off sick during their career, while women phone in sick 189 times
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8534796/Women-take-more-sick-days-than-men.html

Women not only work in different occupations, but they also work fewer hours in the workplace: 35 minutes less per day than men, among full-time working men and women.
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/report/2014/05/19/90039/explaining-the-gender-wage-gap/

Many employers are hostile to the idea of making fathers take more paternity leave. "It's not said out loud, but lots of companies, especially small ones, don't employ women they think are going to be pregnant and who will take leave," says the manager of a fruit-and-veg wholesaler in London, who employs 10 people. "If men start taking larger chunks of paternity leave, then fathers-to-be will be regarded with the same suspicion as mothers-to-be."
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/oct/21/men-work-paternity-leave

Not to mention I worked in human resources and saw this with my own eyes.

We still live in a world where if required, it is the woman's job to make the career sacrifices so the man can continue to maximize his earning potential and ability to provide for the family. And women do this and follow along without questioning it. I've witnessed women stall out or even quit their entire careers because of this.

I am sure there is some companies out there outright discriminating based on gender. But they make up a very small amount of the wage gap. The bulk of it is due to our social patriarchal forces still in place and lifestyle choices.