Now that the Paycheck Fairness Act was defeated, 52-47, you can expect the Republicans to jump-start a meme that they started a few weeks ago. I wrote about it yesterday, but it was buried in another post, so I thought I’d do a quickie re-post that explains exactly why that meme is bullshit.
A few weeks ago, the Free Beacon published a story claiming that female Democratic Senators employed female staffers whom they paid less than their male staffers, and that such was a “betrayal” of Lilly Ledbetter:
A group of Democratic female senators on Wednesday declared war on the so-called “gender pay gap,” urging their colleagues to pass the aptly named Paycheck Fairness Act when Congress returns from recess next month. However, a substantial gender pay gap exists in their own offices, a Washington Free Beacon analysis of Senate salary data reveals.
Of the five senators who participated in Wednesday’s press conference—Barbara Mikulski (D., Md.), Patty Murray (D., Wash.), Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.), Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) and Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.)—three pay their female staff members significantly less than male staffers.
Murray, who has repeatedly accused Republicans of waging a “war a women,” is one of the worst offenders. Female members of Murray’s staff made about $21,000 less per year than male staffers in 2011, a difference of 35.2 percent.
That is well above the 23 percent gap that Democrats claim exists between male and female workers nationwide. The figure is based on a 2010 U.S. Census Bureau report, and is technically accurate. However, as CNN’s Lisa Sylvester has reported, when factors such as area of employment, hours of work, and time in the workplace are taken into account, the gap shrinks to about 5 percent.
A significant “gender gap” exists in Feinstein’s office, where women also made about $21,000 less than men in 2011, but the percentage difference—41 percent—was even higher than Murray’s.
Boxer’s female staffers made about $5,000 less, a difference of 7.3 percent.
The Free Beacon used publicly available salary data from the transparency website Legistorm to calculate the figures, and considered only current full-time staff members who were employed for the entirety of fiscal year 2011.
Of course, the Free Beacon made no mention that the Lilly Ledbetter Act was passed to ensure equal pay for equal work. As such a simple comparison of female and male staffers is entirely pointless. A comparison of female and male staffers in the same roles would be required before Republicans can cry, “Both sides do it!” and no such comparison has been forthcoming. But who cares! Everybody knows that Republicans don’t deal in facts and logic.
Oh and Mitt Romney still won’t take a stand on equal pay for women. What a leader!
[cross-posted at TRS-ABLC]
Richard W. Crews
I’m a very Leftist Democrat, and these Seanators have FAILED – at first glance. There is unequal pay – and no explanation.
It looks terrible to me, and is easy for the wingers to work with.
Seniority would explain it. Job titles would explain it. But nothing in your post explains it. I realize that’s not your job – explaining these discrepancies, but it may be your ‘duty’ to point out that this mess isn’t explained.
Mark S.
I’m surprised the Free Bacon would put out a shoddy, misleading piece of journalism. That’s so unlike them.
kc
Yeah, it still doesn’t look good at all.
eldorado
52-47 is a loss? how can that be?
Foregone Conclusion
There’s two different problems here:
1) Pay inequality for what is substantially the same job. That is an individual problem, which is illegal.
2)Pay inequality due to women not being promoted at the same rate as men in the workforce.
I would be almost certain that it’s the latter case. Given how few people a Senator would actually employ, it’s quite possible that, statistically, just a few men in the better-paid positions skews things a bit. Alternatively, the employment and promotion prospects for congressional staffers are such that they discriminate against women or fail to compensate effectively for problems like childbirth, raising a family, etc. It’s an interesting question that needs looking at. But just saying ‘x has failed’ is ridiculous, unless you’re mandating some kind of complex pay quota system.
Yutsano
@Richard W. Crews: I don’t know if her staffers are paid on the GS scale, but often you can have the same position paid at different levels because of time in grade. It really is a meaningless stat because there is no indication where they are on their various grades and steps. Government payroll is easily found on the Internet, but just looking at pay rates tells you nothing.
SamR
Bill wasn’t defeated, it was never allowed an up or down vote by the GOP minority. Filibuster of bill couldn’t be overcome despite 52 votes in favor of ending the filibuster vs. only 47 votes in favor of sustaining it.
gocart mozart
This is a strong argument for female senators to hire men to answer phones and do other low level secretarial type work. Also, more male interns will go a long way towards equalizes the pay discrepency. Also, too, did you know that the office temps at Bain Capital earn much less than Romney? It’s true.
In other words, unless you know who has what job, the stat is bullshit.
gocart mozart
The statistic doesn’t say anything. Lies, damn lies and statistics.
bk
The legislation wasn’t defeated. It got 52 votes. Only in the through the looking glass land that the GOP has built does a majority mean defeat.
gocart mozart
senior male staffer: $100,000
senior female staffer: $100,000
junior male staffer: $75,000
junior female staffer: $75,000
Three female interns: $10,000 stipend
OMG! Senator Hypocracia feminazi pays her female staffer much less on average!!
BigSouthern
@eldorado: I was wondering this, too. Unless I slept through a lesson in my government class – quite likely – I thought a simple majority was good enough for Congress…
Mark S.
@eldorado: @BigSouthern:
You guys remember how hard it was to pass anything even when we had 59 Senators? It’s that stupid filibuster.
Just Some Fuckhead
I’ll never forgive those bastards for making their name look like Free Bacon.
Chris
Other people have already harped on this, but never say “the Paycheck Fairness Act was defeated, 52-47” – that just makes it seem like 52 people voted against it and it failed.
Always make it clear that there were 52 votes in favor and it only failed because of Republican filibuster. I realize the source said the same thing, but we need to push back against them too.
Anytime something “fails” with more than 50 votes we need to make sure everyone talks about it.
Steve in DC
Do we know what their job function is and what pay grade they were? I make lots more than many women now where I work, I am an IT officer and they are project associates and assistants. I make far less than many females where I work as well, they are directors and VPs. Not to mention factoring hours worked or other things.
Now as I work for an NGO the majority of the staff are women. More of our directors are women and more of our associates and assistants are women. However the IT department is largely male. IT tends to pay fairly well to attract tallent, it also has a limit (not that many director or VP slots possible). So while we have more women on the lower end of the pay scale due to them starting as associates, we also have far more of them at the top end of the pay scale as VP’s and directors.
All of this is to say, blanket claims of who makes what without details are pretty bullshit!
Steve in DC
@gocart mozart
Yeah and most people forget that staffing on The Hill, or any myriad of “stepping stones to great money and connections” is still largely a female occupation. Many of whom have law degree’s and are on their parents dime and don’t need the cash, and it pays out in spades if they either become senior or cash out and become a lobyist. All the more so in Democratic staffs where fighting the good womens fight on the cheap with money from home is what a lot of people desire.
The basic thing is “hill staff is a bunch of rich yuppies that get paid shit to make bank later, more female hill staff work for democrats than republicans” which is a giant “well no shit Sherlock” to everybody that lives here.
A Conservative Teacher
The End Pay Discrimination Through Information Act (S. 3256) is still there, and is a bill that includes the majority of what Democrats say they want out of this effort. I wonder- will Democrats join Republicans in working for woman’s equality, or was this all just a big fake effort designed to steer money to lawyers and hire more bureaucrats (which is what the Paycheck Fairness Act did)?
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Republican idea of woman equality = all women back to the kitchen like the Baby Jesus wanted in Leave it to Beaver.
The Other Bob
I am not sure Stabenow has much of a male staff at least at the more senior level anyway.
PanurgeATL
@A Conservative Teacher:
IOW, Democrats aren’t as interested in women’s equality as Republicans if the Dems insist on trying to pass a bill that goes farther in that cause than the Republican bill will. Right–gotcha.
brantl
@A Conservative Teacher: BLow me, you lying sack of shit.