White House: Women Still Lag Behind Men In Pay

Women at all levels of education still earn only 75 percent as much as their male counterparts, according to a new report issued by the White House.

Due to these lower earnings, and in part because unmarried and divorced women are usually responsible for raising and supporting their children, women are also more likely to live in poverty than men.

These sobering statistics, and others presented in "Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being," are evidence of a persisting gap between the sexes, even as we celebrate strides made toward gender quality this Women's History Month.

The study was initiated to support the White House Council on Women and Girls, created by President Barack Obama in early 2009. It collected data from over a dozen federal government agencies and presents a comprehensive statistical portrait of the life of the American woman today, as well as how it has changed over time. The last report of this kind was released in 1963 under the Kennedy administration.

Some other key findings:

• Family. Women are delaying marriage, and fewer women overall are married than in the past. There are also more women who have never had children. If women do become mothers, they have fewer children and give birth at a later age.
• Education. Higher percentages of women than men aged 25 to 34 have earned a college degree, and more women than men have received a graduate education. However, female students are still trailing males in math scores, and women earn fewer degrees than men in science and technology.
• Employment. Unemployment rates for women have risen less than for men in recent recessions. However, female-headed families have the lowest family earnings among all family types. In families where both husband and wife are employed, employed wives spend more time on household activities than do employed husbands.

According to Valerie Jarrett, White House counselor and chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls, this report serves as "a guidepost to help us move forward" and will affect future policy decisions, CNN reports.

"The Early Show" sat down with Lucy Danziger, editor-in-chief of Self magazine, and Ronna Lichtenberg, author of "Pitch Like a Girl: How a Woman Can Be Herself and Still Succeed," to further examine what these figures really tell us about the current state of American women.

WATCH:

Comments

[GustavoRejivik]

12:38 AM on 03/08/2011

I find it hard to believe that these stats haven't changed since 1963 ..... I believe that stat betrays the validity of this assertion.

[LiveTheSheenDream]

10:05 PM on 03/06/2011

If a man works twenty years in a row making $40,000/year than his 20 year career average annual income will be $40,000. However when a married woman doing the same job earning the same pay works only 16 of the same 20 years - due to her taking 4 years off to have kids - than her '20 year career average annual income' drops to $32,000. This despite the fact that she earned the same pay doing the same work as the man during those years she actually earned an income.

Thus the statistics showing unequal gender earnings are fraudulently concocted by the inclusion of the years married women willingly choose not to work into women's overall career average earnings stats. This is the primary source of the phony "pay gap" figures between men and women - disingenuously compiled statistics.

[Ddorsey]

04:06 AM on 03/07/2011

Though I'm not sure that 100% of the discrepancy in pay comes from time off, either way, the fact that women are unequally taking time off to take care of children and earning less money because of that when it equally takes a male and female to create a child constitutes inequality, and there is still a pay gap. Some would argue that this is natural, however, if women are to be expected to take more time off in our society to take care of children, they should be given more time off with pay.

[LiveTheSheenDream]

02:16 PM on 03/07/2011

you're conveniently ignoring the fact that women who can take a couple years off work to have kids can do so because they have husbands (men) who're toiling away supporting them. Who financially compensates the men for such generosity?

And how many women have shelled out half their earnings to allow men to stay home and play daddy? The inequality is clearly favoring the women. What about all the dinners and drinks that women enjoy courtesy of the generosity of men? Men's pay should compensate them for the societal customs that saddle them with the expenses of dating and bar hopping.

[GustavoRejivik]

12:41 AM on 03/08/2011

No doubt the statistics are purposefully bent ... no way the same 75% pay figure can be traced .. straightligned all the way back to 1963.

There may still be some "Gender Gap" ... but the massive exaggeration and games with stats undermines the point of the article ... which is ... I guess ... no point at all but to stir up gender hatred, continued affirmative action and false perceived discrimination.

[LiveTheSheenDream]

04:52 AM on 03/08/2011

actually the aim of the pay gap gambit is to generate large scale support (lot of women voters out there) for state power to regulate wages. It's the 'camel's nose under the tent' kind of thing. Once the state has its foot in the door of earnings regulation they can trump up more noble causes to justify expanding their regulatory power over time.

The natural goal of government is the acquisition of increasing amounts of power. Power over people's minds (regulating education and media), power over people's lives (regulating work and leisure), power over production (regulating prices, quality and quantity of goods and services) and power over labor (regulating WAGES and employment opportunities)

[LiveTheSheenDream]

06:48 PM on 03/06/2011

that 25% gender pay gap is statistically generated bogusness

what they don't tell you is that the so-called gender 'pay gap' is derived from a statistical aggregate sampling. The average earnings data set for females is made lower by the large numbers of married women who choose to take a few years off from their careers to have their children while their husbands continue working to pay the bills. These working fathers thus stabilize the statistical earning averages of men relative to the lowered pay averages of women caused by all the stay-at-home moms.

winning

[darkmark]

01:56 PM on 03/05/2011

i hear, on ted.com, that women are coming out of the closet. in other words, not taking a job and trying to out do the men at being men. an alternative universe in the making.

[bkerensa]

06:40 AM on 03/05/2011

Women bosses for the win!

[Marla Turner]

02:05 AM on 03/05/2011

If we are to take away any message from this article (and photo) it would be that, YES; the glass ceiling still exists and the men above us want to see us naked when they look through it.

[GustavoRejivik]

12:44 AM on 03/08/2011

Where, exactly, does this Glass Ceiling still exist??

Few woman are worth looking at, naked, through the "Glass Ceiling", don't flatter yourself .. women undercut each other far more than men, who are hobbled by affirmative action and political correctness.

[NoSillyName]

12:31 AM on 03/05/2011

That, in itself, highlights how important womens' issues are (not). Very sad.

I was 12 in 1963 and only knew of ONE mother who worked outside of the home.

[ghost geezer]

09:35 PM on 03/04/2011

The cutie in fact is not nekked. But one has to look
closely enough in hopes that she is to discover the
bra straps that say that she isn't.

So she is that much less exploited, and has, I do
suppose, come a long way. Maybe an inch.

[ghost geezer]

09:31 PM on 03/04/2011

So here we have for the come on picture, well, what we have,
a cutie who is probably nekked, holding Old Glory in front of
her new glory.

Who needs to read further? When are women really, and I mean REALLY
going to strike back at this abuse?

[GustavoRejivik]

12:46 AM on 03/08/2011

Good Point !! The Huff Po and its Administrators are demeaning women with that sexy photo headlining an article on the "Gender Gap".

[Peter van Dyk]

02:09 PM on 03/04/2011

Look at the statistics on rape & sexual abuse, harassment this world is a dangerous place for women & men are conditioned to not have empathy for themselves or women. The impact of the patriarchal belief system still provides privilege & denial to rule. The wealthy & the bannisters are prime examples of this. As are the war mongers, Obama included, read ''unmaking war, remaking men'' kathleen berry, for more info.

[GustavoRejivik]

12:47 AM on 03/08/2011

Wow, yea, can you imagine if Islam took over? Talk about Patriarchal !!

[PaulCircharo]

10:51 PM on 03/03/2011

i liked what tavis smiley said on bill maher recently. it doesnt matter if we treat women better in this country, wrong is wrong. degree doesnt necessarily always matter. in most cases i would agree.

[GustavoRejivik]

12:49 AM on 03/08/2011

Women are the greatest benefactors of Affirmative Action. I wonder how Tavis Smiley feels about that? Originally, I believe, Affirmative Action was supposed to empower Blacks, give em' a boost after decades of discrimination.

Seems Women have capitalized on AA, Frog Jumping the Blacks.

[PaulCircharo]

09:02 AM on 03/08/2011

have you ever read howard zinn's "a peoples history of the united states"? if you had read some of these stories about how women have been enslaved, mistreated, abused, discriminated, and like african americans given unequal opportunities in this country and still to this day....you may have different feelings on the subject. i say however women may have capitalized on AA, like you say, they probably deserve it. who cares who AA was originally supposed to benefit. men benefit/profit from war, is that right? thanks for commenting.

[Jefferson78]

08:56 PM on 03/03/2011

o is d

[Jefferson78]

08:55 PM on 03/03/2011

omg

[pita143]

08:37 PM on 03/03/2011

I am sorry but I am sick and tired of this BS. Women make 75cents to a mans dollar is a joke.
Studies by Syracuse University and Rutgers University have shown when you take one man in one job and compare them to a woman with equal experience and seniority they have found out that in fact woman make over 22% MORE THEN MEN.
To arrive at the figure of 75cents they take a few thousand male workers, add their salaries. Then take a few thousand female workers, add their salaries and come up with a figure. THEY DO NOT compare job to job, education to education, experience to experience or seniority to seniority.

What also is never mentioned is the fact that some woman do not want the same responsibility such as traveling for business because of their families. And I believe they should have that option, but then don't tell me they should receive the same pay as the person who travels to help the company.

Equal pay for equal work, also means equal work for equal pay. If a man and a woman work at the same job, with the same experience than there is absolutely no reason why a Woman should be paid one single penny less, but they also need to put in the same time and do the same amount of work.

[AztecGold]

12:31 AM on 03/04/2011

If you're sick of it, grow a vagina, and start making the windfall of cash you speak of.

The study did mention women with families, single and divorced women with families, that have to eke out a living to support their children. Even in a case where a woman decides to travel, there will be stark differences between the demands on their budgets, childcare, etc..

Take a look at the directing boards of corporations in this country, women are still stuck in "Mad Men" land when it comes to rising to the top in some very visible industries.

The study also suggested that women are later than in all of history in having children, and marrying. This indicates that there isn't a whole lot of reasons why women shouldn't be charging through these barriers, except for the reason of plain and obvious discrimination.

It's a full-time job having to prove your intelligence and ambition over and over with little or no positive results, except for a nifty recession (the brainchild of greedy, powerful men). And in this climate women have to prove more powerfully their ability to produce and lead, because their competition is that childless, golfing, sports fisherman with season tickets to hockey and the secret handshake that extends from his lower abdomen.

[kapalabhati]

05:06 PM on 03/06/2011

No, you are not sorry. Not one bit.

[WoodsideCraig]

05:30 PM on 03/03/2011

I support equal pay for women. Go equality!

Having said that, why the stock photo of a presumably naked woman in a painters hat holding an American flag? I do not understand the symbolism . . . at all.