Maddow Gets Handed Her Lunch With Facts From GOP Strategist

Posted by Brian

Rachel Maddow, on 'Meet The Press' begins to trot out the age-old liberal talking point that women in the workplace make less than men, but is surprised to find that she is actually challenged on this point.  When Alex Castellanos, to her right, states that "there are reasons for that", she responds with, "No, don't tell me the reasons".  Don't tell you the reasons? Like most liberals, she is uninterested in the facts of how her 'statistic' that "women earn 77 cents on the dollar" versus what men earn, is arrived at.

This statistic of "77 cents on the dollar", adjusted up or down a penny or two over the years, has been thrown around for years.  Like the number of illegal immigrants in the country, the number never seems to change.  It's a talking point to further the notion that all women are discriminated against in the workplace. It promotes victimhood.



But, does Maddow have a point?  Only if you look at raw data without a reference point, or context.  It is pointed out to Ms. Maddow by the strategist, that single women make more than their male counterparts.  In fact, they make about 8% more on average.  The reason for this, of which Maddow is uninterested, is that more women are entering the work force with college degrees.

Motherhood and family plays a huge role in the perceived gender wage gap.  A Labor Department study shows that the pay gap is affected almost entirely by the different "choices" that men and women make throughout their careers.  For example, women are more likely than men to work at "family-friendly" companies, where women value benefits more than higher wages.  Women are more likely to work in part-time employment, which pay typically pays less than full-time employment. Women leave the work force for childbirth and raising families.  Because of these choices, as women and men grow older the aggregate time that men have spent in continuous in the workforce is more than women.  More continuous years of employment favors results in higher pay for men over time.

One point that the strategist makes at about the :45 mark is that if the statistic were true, businessmen would hire only women in the workforce and save about 25% on their bottom line.  Of course this bounces right off of Maddow, who gives it no shrift, and moves onto her next point.

Funny, how the Maddow's of the world are only interested in statistics if they move the victim card forward.  Rachel Maddow is an intelligent person, but is so steeped in her ideology, that when confronted with facts, she prefers to keep herself in intellectual slavery.

Related:

Department of Labor: An Analysis of Reasons for the Disparity in Wages Between Men and Women