Opinion articles provide independent perspectives on key community issues, separate from our newsroom reporting.

Letters to the Editor

Caring professions pay men good salaries

Regarding the article “Struggling men shun jobs mostly done by women”: The article states that “male nurses are still rare.”

In 2011, 9 percent of all nurses were men while 91 percent were women. Men earned, on average, $60,700 per year, while women earned $51,100 per year.

The American Bar Association reports that 35 percent of attorneys are women.

I don’t think 9 percent is rare. The percentage of male nurses is increasing (1 percent in the 40s) and the pay is decent. There is a difference between how quickly women are moving into law and how quickly men are moving into nursing, but the difference does not appear as stark as the article portrays it.

Men will need to get over their reluctance to go into “caring” professions and get in on good jobs.

David V. Young, Fresno

This story was originally published January 11, 2017 at 1:05 PM with the headline "Caring professions pay men good salaries."

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