GOP blocks Paycheck Fairness Act — but that’s OK because the pay gap just improved by 1 cent!

http://www.salon.com/2014/09/16/gop_blocks_paycheck_fairness_act_but_thats_ok_because_the_pay_gap_just_improved_by_1_cent/



New data from the Census Bureau reveals that the pay gap has gone from 77 cents to 78 cents on the dollar

GOP blocks Paycheck Fairness Act — but that’s OK because the pay gap just improved by 1 cent!
Katie McDonough
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2014 02:09 PM EST

Last week, Senate Republicans let the Paycheck Fairness Act advance for debate. This week, the same Republicans blocked the measure to ban retaliation against employees who share salary information and impose harsher penalties on employers who discriminate based on gender. No one is surprised. (Except maybe Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown generally seems pretty surprised every time Lucy pulls up that football.)

So the GOP that claims to be focused on “women’s outreach” in advance of the 2014 midterms and “supports equal pay” is the same GOP that has now acted four times to block a measure that would bring transparency and some measure of accountability to employers who pay women less than men. Which is the same GOP that has consistently opposed increases to the minimum wage, locking millions of women into poverty. Which is the same GOP that is currently meeting with fast food executives to undermine the momentum behind labor organizers demanding decent wages.

But things aren’t all bad. New data out from the Census Bureau reveals that, on average, women now make 78 cents on the dollar instead of 77 cents. That means that, on average, a woman working full-time, year-round earns just 22 cents less than her male colleagues for the exact same work. (Who wants to order the cake? Should I order the cake? I can order the cake.)

As Danielle Kurtzleben pointed out over at Vox, that new number “is not statistically different” than the 2012 estimate of 76.5 percent. (Who wants to cancel the cake? Should I cancel the cake? I can cancel the cake.)