A recent article from ‘Down Under’ talked about the gap in lifetime earnings between men and women. Despite the fact that female workers in their 20’s and 30’s are paid as much as their male counterparts, the article points out that men will earn more than women during their working lives.

A 25-year-old man’s potential earnings over the next 40 years is $2.4 million, compared to $1.4 million for a woman of the same age.

While the reasons for this are not really surprising (maternity leave, part-time or flex hours) I found it interesting as the main premise in my novel, The Gender Divide, is that women life four times as long as men do.

Consider the impact of this $1M difference, reversed and magnified by the extended life span of women and aided by the miracle of compound interest, and it is easy to see how the world I envisioned in The Gender Divide came to be. A world where women are in control at all levels; where they are the CEO’s and other senior business people; where they are the venerable politicians.

It was envisioning this world that prompted me to write The Gender Divide and I really enjoyed the process of trying to imagine the political, economic, and social ramifications resulting from this change.

If you are interested in learning more, The Gender Divide will be available in May from Champagne Books. I hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.