We like to criticize the media for latching on to political gaffes, but we, the people of the Internet, clearly enjoy a good campaign faux pas. Mitt Romney’s answer to a question about pay inequity between men and women contained the unfortunate phrase “binders full of women.” The former Massachusetts governor was trying to explain how he had been proactive about including women in his cabinet and staff. But all the Internet heard was tomorrow’s meme.
What has gotten lost is the fact that Romney mostly sidestepped the question. After discussing his binders full of women, he stuck to his main campaign talking point: improving the economy is the best solution to everyone’s problems. Earlier in the debate President Obama dodged a question about his administration’s role in lowering gas prices because he didn’t want to admit that he has little control over the gas market. Similarly, Romney was unable to bring himself to say that conservative doctrine argues that the pay disparity is largely a myth.
There is a lot of economic truth behind conservative doubts about pay inequity. Studies have shown that that commonly cited statistic – that women make 77 cents for every dollar men make – is misleading. Suzy Khimm of the Washington Post reports that women’s life choices, including working in lower-paid professions, working less hours, and taking time off to have children, account for more than half of the wage gap. Women still earn about 91 cents for every dollar men earn, and this gap can be plausibly blamed on discrimination. This statistic isn’t the last word on the earnings disparity. A University of Michigan study found that female physicians working in academia earn $360,000 less over their careers than men in similar positions.
At the same time the media is discussing pay inequity, they are declaring that men are in decline. Hanna Rosin, a writer for Atlantic, wrote an article and a book declaring the “end of men.” Women, Rosin argues, are better suited to a postindustrial economy that is focused less on brawn and more on information and communication. She also writes that women are more adaptable to changes in the economy, as evidenced by the fact that women comprise a majority of people graduating from college and working in the fastest growing industries.
Rosin admits that the top of business and politics is still dominated by men, but she believes this masculine hold on power will succumb as women continue their rise. Still, she notes that only 3 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. It’s been almost a century since the first women was elected to Congress, and women currently hold less than 20 percent of the seats in Congress. These stark figures are hard to ignore, even in the face of progress.
Because the exact scope of pay inequity is subject to legitimate debate, and because there are deep cultural forces at work, the role of public policy in this issue is muddled. The Paycheck Fairness Act, which would have protected women who inquire about pay disparities and made it easier to sue for discrimination, failed in Congress this year. Some argue that women make less because they have lower wage expectations than men, and because they are less willing to negotiate for raises. Wage transparency, as prescribed in the Paycheck Fairness Act, could help this problem, but there would also need to be a cultural shift in how women view wages. Others argue that increased flexibility at work, such as more mandated maternity and paternity leave, would be the most effective policy solution. But again, there would need to be a cultural shift that encourages men to participate more in childcare. Any public policy solution can only nudge society in a certain direction.
Before we dismiss the role of public policy in pay equity, we only have to look at Mitt Romney’s answer in last week’s debate to see how top-down intervention can help women. As Slate’s John Dickerson astutely notes, Romney himself inadvertently highlighted the problem by saying that most of the candidates for appointment to his cabinet were men, despite the existence of qualified women. It took the intervention of a benevolent boss, Romney (or perhaps outside women’s groups), to push for female candidates. It’s possible to envision a world in which Hanna Rosin’s “end and men” scenario is true, and women come to dominate low- and middle-class professions, but men continue to control the upper echelons of society. While the parallel isn’t perfect, it’s worth noting that African-Americans currently make up only around 8 percent of Congress.
Maybe men will eventually succumb to the rising tide of women. But it seems reasonable for business leaders and the government to step in and try to nudge society toward equity of pay and power. Perhaps that just means helping our society recognize the true value of traditionally female professions. For example, using public policy to make teaching an elite, highly paid profession could elevate many women while also improving our schools. The “war on women” has become a political talking point, but our political process cannot afford to ignore the legitimate concerns of half the population.
Image Credit: “Binders” (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) by nick findley