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Lawmakers address gender wage disparities
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Legislators and advocates for equal pay for women gathered at the Capitol Tuesday to observe what Gov. Jim Doyle declared “Equal Pay Day,” the day on which women on average match what men made last year.
On average, Wisconsin women earn 78 cents to every dollar made by men doing the same job, according to a report released by the Center on Wisconsin Strategy.
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 demanded employers pay women and men equally. When the bill was passed, women nationwide earned 59 cents to every dollar for men.
While progress has been made, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton said it is not enough. At its current rate, the gap will not disappear until 2057.
“Equal Pay Day for me underscores lost opportunities for Wisconsin’s economy and our families,” Lawton said. “And a day where we can perhaps begin to have hope.”
For women of color, the gap is even worse. Black women earn 72 cents to every dollar and Hispanic women earn 59 cents to every dollar men of all races make, according to Business and Professional Women of Wisconsin.
“In today’s society with more heads of households being single women, it is imperative that women obtain pay equity,” said Lin Clousing, BPW Wisconsin legislation chair.
Over the past decades, two bills that would work to close the gap have made it through the state Senate, once in 2001 and once this past January.
The version passed by the Democratic-controlled Senate in January would have authorized the courts to force employers who discriminate to pay for lost wages, punitive damages and an extra fine.
It was referred to the Republican-controlled Assembly Committee on Jobs and Economy following passage by the Senate, but no hearings were scheduled before the end of session.
No Republicans in the Senate voted to approve the bill.
“I don’t understand how in this day and age, there are still people out there who believe that women, many of whom could be their own wives and daughters, are not deserving of the same compensation as men when they are performing the same work,” said Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, a firm supporter of the reform.
Ryan Murray, spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said Republicans didn’t support the bill because the punitive damages clause could cause companies to go bankrupt.
“This is a part of a trend we saw from Senate Democrats this session,” Murray said. “They tried in many ways to make it easier to file lawsuits against businesses and make it easier to go after their money.”
The study from Center on Wisconsin Strategy also provided numbers on education levels for the general public and younger workers from 25 to 35.
Roughly 31 percent of white Wisconsin women ages 25 to 35 have received a bachelor’s degree, compared to 25.5 percent of white men. That number for young blacks is around 15 percent for both men and women.
Nearly a quarter of Hispanic males do not have a high school education, compared with only 6 percent of white males.
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It would be nice if the Center on Wisconsin Strategy actually controlled for other factors in their datasets (when do you so, the wage disparity is much less than they claim). Until they do so, their studies can’t be believed by anyone who doesn’t already agree with their political philosophy.
As anyone asked what the degrees are in?
Wage disparity is elminated when all factors are accounted for.
“When women behave in the workplace as men do, the wage gap between them is small. June O’Neill, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, found that among people ages 27 to 33 who have never had a child, women’s earnings approach 98 percent of men’s. Women who hold positions and have skills and experience similar to those of men face wage disparities of less than 10 percent, and many are within a couple of points. Claims of unequal pay almost always involve comparing apples and oranges.
Lifestyle Choices
Women make different choices, and those choices affect how they work. Women often place more importance on their relationships - caring for children, parents, spouses, etc. - than on their careers. A study by the Center for Policy Alternatives and Lifetime television found that 71 percent of women prefer jobs with more flexibility and benefits than jobs with higher wages, and nearly 85 percent of women offered flexible work arrangements by their employers have taken advantage of this opportunity. “
More here:
http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba392/
And today the Republicans filibustered the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act because they care more about protecting businesses that violate the civil rights of their employees than they do about the employees whose rights are violated.