FALSEHOOD #29: Biden falsely claimed that there’s a gender wage gap in this country.
He said,
“Closing the gender pay gap is more than just an economic imperative — it’s a moral imperative as well… For every dollar the typical man who works full-time full-year earns in America, a woman earns 82 cents… Equal pay is about justice, fairness, and who we are as a nation — it makes all of us stronger, and it represents what America is truly about. Passing the Paycheck Fairness Act is an essential step, but we still have a lot more work to do to ensure that our daughters have all of the same rights and opportunities as our sons.”
Biden made this false claim on April 15, 2021, during a White House briefing.
EXPLANATION: The gender wage gap has repeatedly been disproven. For starters, there isn’t a gap in wages; according to the Equal Pay Act of 1963, it’s illegal to pay men and women differently for doing the same thing. The actual gap is in overall salary (a salary gap), but upon further investigation, there’s nothing discriminatory about this. Most of the salary gap is explained by men, on average, being more likely to work more hours than women. Other factors that explain men having higher salaries are the fact that men are less likely to be absent, men are more likely to gravitate towards higher paying careers (like Petroleum Engineers, Architects, and Aerospace Engineers), men are more likely to travel for work, men are more likely to ask for a raise, men are more likely to work physically demanding jobs, and men are more likely to work dangerous jobs.
SOURCES
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2019, November 1). Earnings of full-time workers. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved August 11, 2022, from https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/womens-earnings/2018/home.htm
Phelan, J. (2018, December 10). Harvard study: “gender wage gap” explained entirely by work choices of men and women. Foundation for Economic Education. Retrieved August 10, 2022, from https://fee.org/articles/harvard-study-gender-pay-gap-explained-entirely-by-work-choices-of-men-and-women/
Equal pay/compensation discrimination. US EEOC. (n.d.). Retrieved August 10, 2022, from https://www.eeoc.gov/equal-paycompensation-discrimination#:~:text=The%20Equal%20Pay%20Act%20requires,whether%20jobs%20are%20substantially%20equal.
Perry , M. J. (2017, July 31). There really is no ‘gender wage gap.’ there’s a ‘gender earnings gap … American Enterprise Institute. Retrieved August 10, 2022, from https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/there-really-is-no-gender-wage-gap-there-is-a-gender-earnings-gap-but-paying-women-well-wont-close-that-gap/
Perry , M. J. (2021, October 22). Details in BLS report suggest that the ‘gender earnings gap’ can be … American Enterprise Institute . Retrieved August 10, 2022, from https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/details-in-bls-report-suggest-that-the-gender-earnings-gap-can-be-explained-by-age-marital-status-children-hours-worked-etc/
Kessler, G. (2021, December 7). The ‘equal pay day’ factoid that women make 78 cents for every dollar earned by men. The Washington Post. Retrieved August 10, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/04/02/the-equal-pay-day-factoid-that-women-make-78-cents-for-every-dollar-earned-by-men/
Tobak, S. (2014, May 21). The gender pay gap is a complete myth. CBS News. Retrieved August 10, 2022, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-gender-pay-gap-is-a-complete-myth/
Dougherty, C. (2010, September 1). Young, single women earn more than male peers. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 10, 2022, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704421104575463790770831192
Mechanical Engineer Demographics and Statistics [2022]: Number of Mechanical Engineers in the US. Zippia. (2022, April 18). Retrieved August 10, 2022, from https://www.zippia.com/mechanical-engineer-jobs/demographics/
Lips, K. A. (2016, June 30). New report: Men work longer hours than women. Forbes. Retrieved August 11, 2022, from https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/karinagness/2016/06/30/new-report-men-work-longer-hours-than-women/amp/
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