The Oscars Got Political – Again

Actress Patricia Arquette gave a message about “Equal Pay for Equal Work” at the 87th Academy Awards and brought liberal Hollywood to its feet cheering like it was a football game.

President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal pay Act in 1963, prohibiting wage discrimination on account of sex.   President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Act in 2009 removing the 6 month time limit in which an equal pay claim must be filed. 

Any woman that is paid less than a man for the same work can sue and win damages from the employer.  She will have the backing of the law and the opinion of the Supreme Court. 

Liberals claim that there is wage discrimination and a war on women.   This is perhaps because their observations compare apples and bananas.  Pew studies, and others, use the median wage to show wage discrimination.  A median is found by taking the highest paid woman/man and the lowest paid woman/man and picking the figure in the middle as the median.  Therefore if the highest paid man is more than the highest paid woman and the lowest paid woman/man are the same; the median pay for women would be lower.

A Department of Labor study notes “Differences in comparison of men and women are the result of a multitude of factors.  Indeed there may be nothing to correct.  The differences may be almost entirely the result of individual choices being made by both male and female workers.”  There are possible reasons for pay discrepancies other than discrimination.  In many cases women chose to interrupt their careers for family reasons.   There have been more men in science, engineering, and math skilled positions; which are typically higher paying.  There are more women in minimum wage jobs than men.   Men dominate in blue color jobs which enable overtime pay.  Women compromise over half of the salaried white collar management workforce which is often exempted from overtime laws. 

Overzealous interpretations of unequal pay provide misinformation, and promote a false narrative.  A female working at the same job with the same seniority, education, experience, and training of a male, and is paid less; has the right to sue the employer.    They will win, because it has been the law of the land for over 50 years.