Thursday, June 18, 1998

Wage survey misleading

Women are catching up ever so slightly with men in the wages they earn, and the Clinton administration would credit that to its enlightened policies. The bad news, according to the Labor Department's latest survey, is that women are still paid just 76 cents for every dollar men are paid.

This survey is one in a long line that compare apples to oranges. In one of the few studies that examined the earnings of men and women with the same training, education and experience in the same jobs, it was found women were making nearly 98 cents for every dollar men earn. The sorts of differences seen in the Labor Department survey can chiefly be attributed to life choices made by men and women, not to unfairness by their employers, that study said.

The trouble with how such Labor Department information is sometimes presented is that it fails to acknowledge the extraordinary progress already made to end wage discrimination between the sexes in this country and can lead to unneeded and possibly destructive policies. An important answer to closing the pay gap generally is not mandates from the federal government -- such as the higher minimum wage the White House was bragging about -- but for women to continue to get more education and to enter such fields as engineering in greater numbers.