House Representatives will likely vote soon on the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 7), which was introduced by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) on January 30, 2019. Americans for Tax Reform and the Center for Worker Freedom urge Representatives to vote against the act.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would require businesses to show that pay discrepancies between workers who are purportedly doing the same job are based on “bona fide job-related factors” that are “consistent with business necessity.” Congresswoman DeLauro introduced this bill to resolve a gender wage gap that Congress has tried solving before.

However, this gender wage gap can largely be explained by education differences, choice of occupation and differences in hours spent at work (unless Google is included).

As Rachel Greszler, Research Fellow in Economics, Budget and Entitlements at the Heritage Foundation, has written:

“About 3 to 5 cents of the so-called “gender pay gap” can be explained by differences such as education, choice of occupation, and hours spent at work. The rest can be explained, at least in part, by unmeasured factors like forgoing higher pay for more flexible work schedules and higher benefit packages.”

Unfortunately, this bill would actually likely harm the women the Democrats are claiming to help. If signed into law, the legislation would likely lead to less flexible work schedules for women, fewer incentives for those who work hard and lower pay for all.

In addition, the United States has already prohibited gender discrimination by employers for many years. President John Kennedy, for example, signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963 into law on June 10, 1963, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is also the law.

However, while additional laws prohibiting discrimination will probably not help women, President Donald Trump and the Republicans’ policies of tax reform and deregulation have helped women.

In addition to allowing women to keep more of their hard-earned money, tax reform and deregulation has led to an economic boom that has helped all Americans, particularly women.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in February, the jobless rate for adult women was 3.4%. In September, female unemployment reached its lowest rate in 65 years at 3.3%. In addition, wages for women age 25 – 34 grew at 5.4% YOY in 2018’s fourth quarter, and 62.7% of job growth in 2018 came from women.

Greater economic freedom and tax cuts clearly help women far more than government mandates. Americans for Tax Reform and the Center for Worker Freedom, therefore, urge House Representatives to vote against the Paycheck Fairness Act.