system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: If women really get paid less than men and they are really as much as competent, wouldn't companies hire more women than men since it's cheaper?

Statistics say companies hire more men than women and also that men make more money. If women really get paid less than men and they are really as much as competent, wouldn't companies hire more women than men since it's cheaper? I believe that either women don't really get paid less, or women aren't as much as competent, but I'd like to know the factual data and the logic behind it.
gpt
Women don't generally get paid less than men on a same-job basis.  That is, for a man and a women with the same level of education working the same job, their pay is comparable.  There is a small difference there that is primarily caused by women being less likely to negotiate for a higher salary, though.

But the main difference is caused by the fact that:

1.  Women in general tend to pursue different types of jobs than men.  Women are more likely to be nurses and teachers, and men are more likely to be engineers and corporate executives, for instance.  There's definitely some institutional sexism involved here, but there's also a lot of societal expectation that some jobs are "for boys" and some jobs are "for girls".

2. Women tend to take time off from their career or schooling when they have children, while men tend to keep working/studying.  This places women at a disadvantage compared to men of the same age, because the men will, in general, have more work experience, and can thus demand a higher salary.

**Edit:**  So to address your actual question, equally-qualified employees are going to earn comparable salaries, meaning that there's no particular reason to hire women over men.