Should women be paid the same as men for the same job?

2015-07-07T22:37:59-04:00

Should women be paid the same as men for doing the same job? I am a firm believer in equal pay and equal opportunity. I don't care if you're a man or woman, if you're doing the same job, you both should be paid the same.

But if you work for the Obama administration, as a woman, you are apt to be paid less than your counterpart who happens to be a man. I personally think this is unfair to women, I think that it speaks to his administration and I think all women and men should be upset about this. I must admit this can be said about jobs in the civilian sector also but I don't think it should be the case there let alone at the Whitehouse. If you are doing the same job as me, you should be paid the same as me. What do you women (and men) out here think about this unfair labor practice?
http://freebeacon.com/politics/women-still-short-changed-in-obama-white-house/

Women Still Short-Changed in Obama White House

Women working in President Barack Obama's White House make just 84.2 cents for each dollar earned by men, according to an American Enterprise Institute analysis of 2015 salary data released Wednesday.

Response by SGM Matthew Quick made Jul 7 at 2015 10:40 PM

2015-07-07T22:40:51-04:00

Why not?

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 7 at 2015 10:50 PM

2015-07-07T22:50:14-04:00

Yes paid the same as long as you hold the same job title. Now compensation for performance I am a believer in( bonuses for a sales goal), but that compensation should be based on an objective goal. So it can be achieved by any employee in that role.

Response by COL Charles Williams made Jul 7 at 2015 10:59 PM

2015-07-07T22:59:39-04:00

Yes, of course. SFC William Farrell

Response by SSG (ret) William Martin made Jul 7 at 2015 11:18 PM

2015-07-07T23:18:20-04:00

The Obama administration is not the only administration to pay women less. Does anyone every talk about experience, education or longevity? There should be an entry level pay. Why should a new female employee start out doing the same job as the next male with who has received raises duo to longevity, and employee evaluations which made way for his raises equaling more pay? Please tell me people are not saying that a female entering the same job as a male should make a salary which is commensurate to an experience level she has worked up to or earned the good evaluations.
For example, if a job for doing and "X" job pays $10 an hour that is what all people entering that job should receive.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 8 at 2015 12:24 AM

2015-07-08T00:24:27-04:00

Equal pay for equal work. Unless they take the time to break it down by job position, experience, and responsibility this data is useless. Wage inequality in America is almost nonexistent once you factor in other variables.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Jul 8 at 2015 7:18 AM

2015-07-08T07:18:48-04:00

Most studies show that when you actually equalize job, position, longevity, etc, there is negligible "pay gap."

The major issue with "pay gap" comes from something far more complex, namely what jobs we choose (as classes), time we take away from the job, and whether we advance in said jobs.

What happens is that women (as a class), tend to choose "different" careers than men (as a class). Those career fields have massively different salaries accounting for the majority of the gap.

Second is that women (again, as a class) tend to stay in specific "grades/ranks" longer than men. They don't get promoted as often. As we know from the military, Promotion Pay > Longevity Pay.

Third, women tend to take more breaks in career than men, which results in drops in overall longevity pay.

Men tend to be more aggressive on salary negotiations resulting in higher starting wages, and more aggressive on pursuing promotions, resulting in faster increases in pay. There are social factors which impact this, in that it is perceived as "bad" were a woman to do the same thing, however.

So... To draw a parallel using the military, imagine we had an even split demographically, and we fought for promotions using the corporate method. It would be like the average Male rank was LtCol (In Combat Arms) with higher turnover, but the Average Female rank was Capt/Maj (In Combat Service Support) with lower turnover. Not because "Above" is choosing males over females, but because males & females are making active & passive choices which are accelerating & decelerating their prospective careers.

So both sides of the "pay gap" issue are correct, but anyone giving a X cents to the dollar is being disingenuous, because you cannot do an apples to oranges comparison. When you do apples to oranges, it is $1.00:$.97~ (withing 3% standard deviation of error). However when you look at all the factors you can definitely see there is an "issue" but you cannot "define" it exactly, nor can it be fixed because of how the issue comes about.

Maj Richard "Ernie" Rowlette Can you double check my verbiage, and make sure it flows correctly. I have a feeling you've delved into this as much if not more than I have.

Response by CDR Terry Boles made Jul 8 at 2015 10:06 AM

2015-07-08T10:06:36-04:00

Yes, of course they should. I have read all the comments on this board and they make you stop and think. However, if both male and female are doing the same job why wouldn't they receive the equal pay? One could argue differences in education and experience as an example, there is some validity to this based on the difficulty level of work each can perform at, otherwise equal pay. Fortunately the military has a means and method to equalize pay for both sexes in the same job; of course we know longevity and rank play a part in this.

Response by SCPO David Lockwood made Jul 8 at 2015 10:13 AM

2015-07-08T10:13:25-04:00

Race, Religion or Sex should not matter. If you do a job and do it right then you should be paid for the job.

Response by SGT Robert Hawks made Jul 8 at 2015 5:37 PM

2015-07-08T17:37:45-04:00

Yes they should .

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 8 at 2015 11:29 PM

2015-07-08T23:29:40-04:00

SFC Farrell,

I agree with your assessment on this situation, specifically regarding employment opportunities within the Whitehouse; however, I want to address the misconception that women / men are not payed equivalently within the civilian sector. Many studies fail to take into account that certain fields of expertise have not been traditionally pursued by others of the opposite gender. For instance, if analyzed teller jobs at banks have been traditionally occupied by women. If you review the pay scale in this particular job, women seem to make more than their male counterparts at first glance. However, the statisticd are based on averages and number of individuals in the field. There are various sources / explanations that could be used to cite reasons, but this should not be the case in any field, except where experience is a factor. Studies can be quite misleading when not all of the facts are presented. I believe within the next few years that studies will indicate that many companies are being fair in compensation due to potential fines and regulations being imposed. Great job for providing an interesting article / topic for discussion.

Very Respectfully,
1LT Krohn

Response by LCpl Mark Lefler made Jul 8 at 2015 11:39 PM

2015-07-08T23:39:06-04:00

Of course they should be and I challenge this story's validity.

Response by MAJ Alvin B. made Nov 19 at 2015 8:05 PM

2015-11-19T20:05:41-05:00

Yes. No question. If same skill set, same requirements, same time on the job, -- absolutely. End of discussion.

Response by SSG Todd Halverson made Nov 19 at 2015 8:07 PM

2015-11-19T20:07:01-05:00

Hell yes!!!!!! If they are doing the same job at or above the same standards.

Response by Sgt Edward Harold made Jan 28 at 2021 2:49 PM

2021-01-28T14:49:35-05:00

You are so correct no one should have to remind us or especially former POTUSt. Really it is too true of those female executives who are so nasty with their female subordinates but treat a stupid male underling as if he really is of value.