Paycheck Fairness Act - Defeated

Last week this bill was defeated. (click here from FB) There were many articles written about this issue which frankly left me somewhat confused. Like many, I quote the statistic that women in the US continue to be paid 77 cents to the male dollar, and taken at face value, no one would say that is fair. But this is a complex number. Clearly some of the difference can be explained by the fact that women often opt for lesser paid jobs, often work part-time, require more flexibility, and often withdraw from the work-force for periods of time. That said many experts say there is still a hefty residual that cannot be explained by these factors.

This was from the White House - " Most economists agree, however, that no matter how many variables you control for an unexplained wage gap between men and women persists. For example, Francine Blau and Lawrence Kahn did an excellent breakdown of the wage gap in 2007 and identified that 41% of the wage gap between men and women could not be explained by controlling for variables. Regardless of the precise percentage of the wage gap, we have a responsibility to ensure that no one in this country makes less as a result of his or her gender."

This from Valerie Jarrett's office - Click here. Lily Ledbetter pictured.