Closing the gap
Clinton aims to reduce the difference in wages between sexes with funding

By BETH LUCAS
Collegian Staff Writer

President Clinton reacted to the fact that women still earn smaller paychecks than men in comparable or equal professions by proposing additional funding to work against the trend.

On Jan. 30, Clinton asked Congress to allocate $14 million of last year's $76 billion budget surplus toward closing the pay gap between men and women, which is currently 74 cents to every $1.

He said he would like the money to be used to triple the number of enforcement workers at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), to provide technical assistance to employers in order to ensure compliance with EEOC laws and to create public service announcements alerting women of their rights.

"Pay equality is a major concern for industries and institutions because it is in their best interest to do this, not to mention that not to do so would break the federal law," said Milt Trask, Penn State manager of employment and compensation.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported on its World Wide Web site (www.census.gov) that in 1996, college-educated women earned an average of $18,000 less annually than college-educated men.

The average 25-year-old working woman will lose $523,000 to unequal pay during her working life, according to the AFL-CIO World Wide Web site (www.aflcio.org).

Universities are following the trend of employing more women than in the past, according to The Associated Press, but women tend to receive less pay in the institutions because they are more likely to hold lower positions, such as associate professor or instructor.

"We try to maintain equality at (this) university. Although it is tough, we make a strong effort to do so," Trask said.

It is difficult to measure pay-rate equality when there are so many factors concerning an individual's pay rate, such as seniority, experience and quality of work, he said. These are all stipulations allowing difference in pay under the 1963 Equal Pay Act.

"The pay gap is still there, but it is declining," said Jackie Rogers, assistant professor of labor statistics and industrial relations. The gap has been attributed to many factors, including discrimination, the balance between work and family and the history of low pay for female-dominated jobs, she said.

Rogers, who teaches a course on gender and race work equalities at Penn State, said the gap affects both men and women.

"Men are less alienated when they approach the issue by thinking about their sisters' futures," she said.

Women of color earn lower pay than the average rate, the AFL-CIO site said, and Latino women are the lowest paid workers, earning 58 cents to every $1 the average man earns.

Clinton's proposal would increase the EEOC's budget by 12 percent, which would be helpful because of the large number of cases the agency receives, said Grin Berg, agency spokesperson.

"Putting all equal pay laws together, we have over 2,600 complaints investigated last year," he said. "This would certainly allow us to crack down on equal pay issues."