Why female Uber drivers earn less than men

An analysis by ride-sharing service Uber of its own drivers has thrown up some interesting data.
It seems that female Uber drivers earn on average 7% less than male drivers. But this is not the usual gender earnings gap we often read about. Uber pays its male and female drivers exactly the same for the distance and time they work.
About half of the male-female discrepancy is a result of the rather humdrum fact that the "more risk tolerant and aggressive" male drivers drive faster, and so can fit more trips into the working day. The rest of the difference is partly that men work longer hours (either they choose to, or they are able to) and, as a result of both of these two factors, men accumulate more experience and are able to position themselves in more lucrative locations. Interesting.
As an aside the analysis also reveals that there are 1.8 million Uber drivers in the United States alone, and they earn an average of US$376 a week, or US$21 an hour. Also, 60% of drivers are no longer working for Uber six months after starting, which suggests it is actually a more difficult job than Uber's recruitment advertising suggests.