(Atstock Productions / ShutterStock)
A bill introduced this week in California (where else?) would force businesses to submit payroll data to the state, so it can police whether or not men and women receive equal pay.
It would be yet another absurd regulatory burden and massive bureaucracy expansion in a state already hampered by both.
State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson introduced the bill before a Judiciary Committee Tuesday. Jackson said, "Women are in the workforce primarily because they need to be and it’s important that women are paid equally."
She added, "It’s an enormous problem."
It's not. The wage gap is a myth that does not account for differences in job selections, work hours, the danger of the job, or anything else. Women tend to make less money than men because a work/life home balance is more important to women than men. Men are more likely to think it perfectly fine to work 60 hours per week than a woman, especially one with a family. Further, men tend to select higher-paying job fields than women. This alone accounts for much of the gap.
Here's a video from PragerU explaining the myth:
Luckily, the bill has some stiff opposition.
The California Manufacturers & Technology Association and the Chamber of Commerce have labeled the bill a "job killer," and they're right. The bill requires any company employing over 100 people to submit data. Companies that do take pains to make sure men and women are paid equally but fall under the threshold may refuse to hire more workers if it could put them above that 100 employee cutoff.
Opponents also cite that the bill does not account for experience, a factor which leads to some people being paid more than others for a similar job. That's a fair point. A paycheck alone won't tell you any of that.
There's literally nothing about this bill that's rational or good news for the citizens of California.
No comments:
Post a Comment