Paychecks Aren't Fair, That's Why We Need a Law

By Susan Feiner

WeNews commentator

Sunday, December 12, 2010

After U.S. senators declined to debate the Paycheck Fairness Act in November, Ann Michaud commended them for doing so in a Newsday opinion piece. Susan Feiner tackles Michaud's arguments, starting with her analysis of the wage-gap figure.

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Pushing Women into Men's Fields

Later in the column, Michaud suggests that women should just seek different jobs. This is simply a reprise of the old idea of pushing women into men's fields instead of correcting the under-valuing of women's work.

Michaud implies that women "choose" low wages because they like family-friendly jobs. But why is it OK for jobs with flexible hours to be poorly paid? Given the time women spend doing unpaid domestic work on the "second shift," this seems doubly unfair. This ignores the reality of women's continuing responsibility for caretaking. How are we supposed to jump into those high-paying jetting-around jobs?

(Boss to worker: "Hi, I know it's 2:30 p.m. on Friday, but there's an emergency--be in Timbuktu Sunday." Worker to boss: "Sure thing, I'll give the kids my AmEx card and catch the next plane." Not.)

Michaud says that women should stop wasting their time on Paycheck Fairness and focus on goals such as affordable child care.

No argument there. Affordable child care is great for kids, families and businesses. We've known for decades that readily available child care pays for itself in lower absenteeism and reduced turnover. So why does high quality child care still cost as much as a year at a state college?

Women need the Paycheck Fairness Act because employers embrace the gender status quo by favoring men in hiring, promotion and earnings. That's the real issue in fair pay for women.

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Susan F. Feiner is professor of economics and professor of women and gender studies at the University of Southern Maine in Portland.

For more information:

OPINION: Fair pay for women? Yes, but not like this
http://www.newsday.com/opinion/oped/opinion-fair-pay-for-women-yes-but-not-like-this-1.2503033

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2 COMMENTS | Login or Sign Up to post comments

I just have to laugh at this, really Women make the same as men period. In the unions there is one pay scale for both men and women, both genders get the same pay. Nurses make more money then men who work in the residential construction field, ask how I know this Im a nurse my husband is in the residential construction field. Your story has alot of holes in it

Submitted by Janet (2 years ago)

Excellent article! Using nurses' wages as an example is perfect. There are few professionals as important as nurses; nurses are well-educated, usually very dedicated to people who are their patients, to their employer, and to the physicians and other health care workers with whom they work. Nurses are conscientious and responsible. They should be paid higher than most other formally equivalent workers. Society benefits continually from nurses' work and dedication. A society that does not respect nurses has lost some of its moral compass.