78 percent of women say men and women do not receive equal pay for equal work.
By on Feb 5th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
78 percent of women say men and women do not receive equal pay for equal work.
In a new Rasmussen poll, 78 percent of American women said that “men and women do not receive equal pay for equal work in the United States.” Only 53 percent of men agreed. In the same poll, 49 percent of women attributed the unequal pay to discrimination while only 20 percent of men believe discrimination is the problem. Last week, President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which boosts workers abilities to bring pay discrimination lawsuits.
View Most Popular
Advertisement
What We're About
What We're Fighting For
What We're Fighting Against
Featured
Subscribe to the Progress Report
Topic CloudView topics sorted by popularity
Afghanistan
Bachmann
Beck
Boehner
Business
Cheney
Civil Rights
Congress
Corporate Ethics
Dobbs
Economy
Education
Election
Energy
Environment
Ethics
Fox News
Gingrich
Glenn Beck
Global Warming
Health Care
Immigration
International Relations
Justice
LGBT
Lieberman
Limbaugh
Media
Military
O'Reilly
Obama
Palin
Pelosi
Politics
Race
Radical Right
Religion
Sports
Steele
Stimulus
Tea Parties
Tea Party
Terrorism
Veterans
Women's Rights
Visit Our Affiliated Sites
Reports
In-depth studies on select topics
Got a hot tip?
Have a hot news tip? We'd love to hear from you. Use the form below to send us the latest.
ArchivesBlog Roll
Clearly only 22% of women are idiots, versus 53% of men.
February 5th, 2009 at 8:05 pmWhoops! I meant 47% of men. And I’m not telling you which of those percentages I fall into…
February 5th, 2009 at 8:06 pmThis kind of discrimination is hard to get a handle on because at many workplaces talking about pay rates is discouraged or actually forbidden. Someone trying to determine if they are receiving a low rate of pay may have a difficult time determining what their coworkers are making. Of course the managers are well aware, but even then it can be difficult to discern if one worker makes less because of discrimination or because of natural variations, lack of merit increases, seniority, etc.
These thorny issues are the reason why the courts are given jurisdiction. They can peel away the layers and examine the history. A judge or jury can decide whether discrimination has occurred or not.
February 5th, 2009 at 8:11 pmIs this just another weird outcome of the imaginary “invisible hand” and the wonders of market forces?
February 5th, 2009 at 8:19 pmI’m going to monkeywrench this by pointing out that in terms of having a continuous career resume, many women drop out of the workforce for at least 1-2 years for each child that they have. That by itself can slow an otherwise “fast-track” career down considerably, accounting for much of the difference.
Whether that’s primarily cultural (hey, we’ve got breast pumps and formula, why doesn’t the dad take a few years off?) or biological (hormones make new mommies go crazy, that’s not sexist, let’s let ‘em go crazy if they wanna) doesn’t so much matter. The simple fact is that women tend to interrupt their careers when they have kids, and men don’t so much.
Now I’m not saying that difference is enough to account for the full pay discrepancy as it appears in real life. But it’s part of it, and that “asterisk” should be in everybody’s mind when they’re personally evaluating such statistics.
February 5th, 2009 at 8:21 pmIn a new Rasmussen poll, 78 percent of American women said that “men and women do not receive equal pay for equal work in the United States.” Only 53 percent of men agreed. In the same poll, 49 percent of women attributed the unequal pay to discrimination while only 20 percent of men believe discrimination is the problem.
– - 47% of all statistics you read online are made up.
February 5th, 2009 at 8:30 pmI know women don’t get paid as much as men.
My wife, a very competent woman in her field, had to work -for years- at a lower rate than her male peers. She was more knowledgeable, with more years of experience, more thorough, and definitely more competent than any of her co-workers (she was the only woman),
She was, time and again, denied time off (or even a little flexibility in her schedule) to take care of our sons, or to go on vacation, even when she had accumulated enough days.
In contrast, her male teammates could get to work late, take time off whenever they wanted, or called in “sick” very often.
She finally had enough and quite her job to start her own business. Her old boss and co-workers kept calling her for a few weeks (after she was no longer working with them), to ask for her advice and guidance on how to do this or that.
Men can be such incompetent jerks, with small, fragile egos.
February 5th, 2009 at 8:33 pmHere’s how pay discrimination works in most large corporations. Salaries for positions are set in bands (quartiles or quintiles). A hiring manager often has discretion to bring in a new person or promote someone with a salary from the minimum to the 1st or 2nd band. In many cases, women and minorities are brought in at the minimum, while favored people come in at a higher band.
February 5th, 2009 at 8:52 pmThis lower base salary affects everything from Social Security contributions to 401k matching to bonuses.
Given that many companies prohibit employees from discussing compensation, individuals have little idea if their own salary is low compared to their peers. And if they do find out, like Mrs. Ledbetter, it’s way too late.
If Republicans have their way this topic wont matter. With many more Americans losing their jobs if President Obama’s Stimulus doesn’t pass. Men have known for so long that woman don’t get equal pay and if they say they didn’t their lying.
February 5th, 2009 at 9:09 pmI can’t think of a better place to put this:
February 5th, 2009 at 9:15 pmUniversity of Tennessee Women’s Head Basketball Coach Pat Summitt gets 1000th career victory! This goes with 8 NCAA Championships and 27 Southeastern Conference Championships!
Congratulations Pat Summitt!
I bet an overpaid man did this poll at Rasmussen.
February 5th, 2009 at 9:25 pmThat should be “but Pearl…”
February 5th, 2009 at 9:30 pmYet Summit will make between $1,125,000 and $1,550,000 this year depending on how well the team does, by Pearl (the men’s coach) will get $1,600,000. So there you go…
February 5th, 2009 at 9:30 pmCParis
Are you suggesting that most large corporations discriminate? On what do you base whatever assertion you are making with that comment?
February 5th, 2009 at 9:35 pmJust an FYI – when adjusted for all relevant factors such as experience level, time in the job, etc. etc., Women actually make the same pay as men!
When you analyze pay, you can’t simply take an average of what women make vs. men overall as this would be a meaningless statistic. You have to break it down by the jobs people actually do.
In fact, there are fields in which women make MORE than men in the same job.
February 5th, 2009 at 9:39 pmTim Vaculik Says:
In fact, there are fields in which women make MORE than men in the same job.
_________
Yeah, Tim… but all you have to do is learn the magic words… “I swallow”… and you’ll be making as much as those women.
And if there are GOOPers in town, prolly even more…
February 5th, 2009 at 9:57 pmI would venture to guess that if it were men who were not making equal pay for equal work (when it compares with women) there would be MUCH more angst and awareness of the problem.
For most men I would guess it is a non-issue because they aren’t the ones struggling to be treated equally, so they just aren’t interested.
To be fair, this does not apply to all men. It’s just not an issue they have had to spend much time worrying about (equal pay that is).
February 5th, 2009 at 10:00 pmThe actual poll question asked was:
In a way, this is a misleasing question because of its imprecision. The term “equal work” means many things to many people. It is most closely associated with the so called “equal worth” argument, which is in reality an entirely different concept.
Here’s the way the question should have been phrased:
February 5th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Mr. Vaculik,
You are forgetting (or deliberately ignoring) the whole reason this issue came up. Lily Ledbetter was getting paid less than her male co-workers who did the very same job. And the Roberts Court denied her because she didn’t file the complaint within 180 days of when the discrimination occurred, despite the fact that it took her years to learn of the discrimination. It happens. It already happened.
February 5th, 2009 at 10:15 pmOn the other side of the coin, I’m not arguing that discrimination doesn’t exist, but the problem isn’t systemic as in years past.
I believe that the majority of companies today (particularly medium to large sized ones) have policies and procedures in place to ensure their workplaces are free from discrimination in hiring, levels of pay, and promotions.
February 5th, 2009 at 10:31 pmBecause my comment is awaiting moderation for the P word, I will try again.
First I must apologize for not reading all comments before I comment – that seems rude to me. But, I have experienced that kind of pay discrimination and I know it exists. Now if you are employed by some kind of government entity, the pay scale is there for all to see. If not, you just have to have a good friend in the accounting department. Women with bachelor’s degrees, supervising others and managing programs still do not earn the same as the p*enis sitting in the corner office taking care of his own small business and leaving after three hours work. Yep, this is America.
February 5th, 2009 at 10:34 pmAccording to the poll, 49% of women blame discrimination. The
rest say it’s due to differances in ability and experience. The men agree with that to a lesser extent
Of course this is just a poll, take it for what it’s worth.
A better question would have asked if they personally or know
February 5th, 2009 at 10:49 pmsomeone that has experienced pay discrimination based on gender.
Mathazar Says:
——————————————————————————–
According to the poll, 49% of women blame discrimination. The
rest say it’s due to differances in ability and experience. The men agree with that to a lesser extent
Of course this is just a poll, take it for what it’s worth.
A better question would have asked if they personally or know
someone that has experienced pay discrimination based on gender.
——————–
Well, I did. I had more education and more responsibilities and I supervised others. This was a non-profit organization and I know for a fact (friends in good places) that the guy who made more than me did absolutely nothing for the agency or the position he was supposed to do. Why? He was a member of the ED’s church. He did nothing. In fact, he eventually helped run that agency into the ground because of his utter and total incompetence. I worked on saving and improving lives and this nitwit did nothing — and got paid bucco bucks.
February 5th, 2009 at 10:55 pmOh well (breathe) I’m over it…….but the disparities do exist and we all need to know it. In fact women’s stuff costs more than men’s stuff — what’s the deal with that? If women are going to be paid less then their stuff should cost less, let’s talk equity here, Huh?
February 5th, 2009 at 11:12 pmgreen: what does that have to do with men vs women? In fact what you’ve described is the reason I believe MOST of the so called discriminatory pay inequality cases are inaccurately labeled.
It’s not about gender, it’s about Playing The Game. Networking, schmoozing, whatever it takes. When your superior is also your BFF you can get away with 10 kinds of hell and never have to worry about your job. Male, female, doesn’t matter. It’s the way the world works. Slacker buddies get promoted, while the hard working quiet types get saddled with more work (after all, they’ve demonstrated that they can handle it!).
(this factor is amplified exponentially if you work for the government)
February 5th, 2009 at 11:18 pmEtherealstrife – I was just venting. I’m not into us vs. them in any kind of form. But I have personally experienced pay discrimination – and I took that knowledge to the higher ups. Too bad, so sad. No, this is not about all men or all women and I do believe that all of us should be paid fairly for the work we do and I’m sure there are ways to qualify it and quantify it.
Thanks for responding – I was starting to think I was talking to myself again. Left coast and all that…..
February 5th, 2009 at 11:33 pmPlus — ethereal, I agree with you completely.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:46 pmDuh…
February 6th, 2009 at 2:39 amTim Vaculik babbles:
I believe that the majority of companies today [...] have policies and procedures in place to ensure their workplaces are free from discrimination in hiring, levels of pay, and promotions.
And here, in a nutshell, is Tim BSculik’s approach to reality: The world is not as all evidence indicates it is, but as he would like it to be.
He conveniently forgets that large companies (such as WalMart, Goodyear, IBM, Oracle, Pacific Railroad) have either faced, settled, or lost lawsuits precisely for “discrimination in hiring, levels of pay, and promotions”. Duh.
February 6th, 2009 at 3:47 amUmmm….what people ‘reckon’ doesn’t define ‘reality’. If there still exists widespread pay disparity between the sexes, show some analysis.
I trust spreadsheets much more than what some random person ‘thinks’.
February 6th, 2009 at 9:39 amIm not denying pay discrimination exists or has existed.
February 6th, 2009 at 9:40 amHowever a poll is hardly evidence of anything more substantive than this is statistically what people believe.
Tim Vaculik Says:
“I believe”….
…well great, this isn’t church so no one cares what you believe.
Many of the details in this study cannot be released to the public, due to privacy issues. If you knew the full scope, you would see that pound for pound, dollar for dollar, women are paid less than men for the exact same job holding equivalent positions.
I know this because I’m a tough b!%#^ and will hold out for negotiation. I know how much places have wanted to pay in in the past and how much I end up getting them to offer me because I know what they boys get paid.
February 6th, 2009 at 10:55 amIt’s such a simpleton approach to just say women make less (or worse, base it on a poll of what people think… not what’s real) and therefore there is obvious discrimination. It’s like saying the NBA is obviously racist because there aren’t too many white players… There’s actually a lot more at play and when we don’t look into it and just assume it’s discrimination, we do ourselves a disservice.
February 7th, 2009 at 1:48 amOMG my first post here…I’m so excited.
February 7th, 2009 at 2:34 pmThe point I would like to make is that when I HAD a job (up until 2 weeks ago), I was paid less as a machine operator than the male that they hired and threw at me to train. He told me one day how much he was making, probably thinking that I was making more than him, and for the next few months he made comments to coworkers that got back to me about how he shouldn’t have to do this or that until he get’s what “she’s making”. He actually resented me thinking that I was paid more than him. I never let him know that I was making less but did tell my supervisor and was told that when my next review came up, the owner would talk about it. Well the company closed so that will never happen. They did say that he was hired in at more than me because he had previous mechanical experience. My answer was that he had NONE of the experience that I was obviously training him for. I have to say that as a female, the physical work was harder for me than for my male counterpart. I was required to flip huge 130 pound rolls of paper from a stack onto a cart. That is slightly above my own body weight. I never saw him have to do anything that required him to move HIS own body weight. When I think about it now, I don’t know if I can even say that we did “equal” work, mostly that we had the same job title.
George W. Bush hates all racial minorities.
http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/12/us-still-has-problems-with-race-rice.html
Was Bush also behind gender discrimination? It would not be surprising if Bush had been: Bush is such a bigot.
“GEORGE W. BUSH IS THE WORST PRESIDENT IN U.S. HISTORY” BLOG OF ANDREW YU-JEN WANG
ONLINE ANTI-BUSH SCHOLASTIC RESEARCH: LISTING OF MAJOR ISSUES
http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/10/bush-is-worst-president-in-american.html
February 8th, 2009 at 12:40 amgeorge sux
sikis
April 26th, 2009 at 2:21 pmporno izle
porno videolar
porn videos