Misleading Metric
by Paul Jacob, Contributing Author: Yesterday's Washington Post clarified how the "gender pay gap" is calculated:
This metric does not take into account the different types of jobs, varying levels of experience and education, or women who lose seniority and promotion opportunities when they leave the workforce temporarily to care for children, which they do in larger numbers than men. Still, it is widely used as a measuring stick. The Post informed readers that the gap isn't what it appears, that it doesn't actually measure discrimination against women. Nonetheless, the paper justifies promoting this misleading statistic with the claim that it is "widely used."
Sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The Post's story was sparked by legislation in Maryland to purportedly mandate "equal-pay" between men and women. Yet, the bill specifically authorizes unequal pay for any "bona fide factor other than sex or gender identity."
It's already against the law for employers to pay women less for the same job or to deny equal opportunity for advancement. This legislation, on the other hand, seems designed to create full-employment for lawyers. If passed, employees could sue their employer for "assigning work less likely to lead to promotion or future opportunities."
Sen. Susan Lee, the bill's sponsor, proclaims that, "Any gap is unequal and unacceptable."
What about the gender pay gap in the Maryland Legislature? Using the same misleading metric, female legislative employees make less than what males make.
Unacceptable!
So, why don't legislators fix their own pay discrepancy before they dictate to everyone else?
Or better yet, they could simply stop peddling a divisive non-solution for this dishonestly hyped "problem."
This is Common Sense. I'm Paul Jacob.
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Paul Jacobs is author of Common Sense which provides daily commentary about the issues impacting America and about the citizens who are doing something about them. He is also President of the Liberty Initiative Fund (LIFe) as well as Citizens in Charge Foundation. Jacobs is a contributing author on the ARRA News Service.
Tags: Misleading Metric, Maryland, gender pay gap, Paul Jacob, Common Sense To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
Sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The Post's story was sparked by legislation in Maryland to purportedly mandate "equal-pay" between men and women. Yet, the bill specifically authorizes unequal pay for any "bona fide factor other than sex or gender identity."
It's already against the law for employers to pay women less for the same job or to deny equal opportunity for advancement. This legislation, on the other hand, seems designed to create full-employment for lawyers. If passed, employees could sue their employer for "assigning work less likely to lead to promotion or future opportunities."
Sen. Susan Lee, the bill's sponsor, proclaims that, "Any gap is unequal and unacceptable."
What about the gender pay gap in the Maryland Legislature? Using the same misleading metric, female legislative employees make less than what males make.
Unacceptable!
So, why don't legislators fix their own pay discrepancy before they dictate to everyone else?
Or better yet, they could simply stop peddling a divisive non-solution for this dishonestly hyped "problem."
This is Common Sense. I'm Paul Jacob.
------------------
Paul Jacobs is author of Common Sense which provides daily commentary about the issues impacting America and about the citizens who are doing something about them. He is also President of the Liberty Initiative Fund (LIFe) as well as Citizens in Charge Foundation. Jacobs is a contributing author on the ARRA News Service.
Tags: Misleading Metric, Maryland, gender pay gap, Paul Jacob, Common Sense To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
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