Baker signs law to close so-called pay gap, prevent ‘salary secrecy’
STATE HOUSE — The Bay State's Republican governor on Monday signed legislation aimed at shrinking the so-called "gender wage gap," a statistical disparity that activists claim is the product of sexism in the workplace but that free market proponents claim is the result of differences in individual backgrounds and free choice.
Although pay discrimination has been illegal in Massachusetts since the mid-20th century, on average Bay State women today earn only 82 cents for every $1 paid to men. June O'Neill of the American Enterprise Institute says such numbers don't tell the whole story because they compare women and men across professions and do not account for career choices, productivity, or hours worked. When the wages of female employees are compared to those of similarly situated men performing the same job, O'Neill says, the wage gap essentially disappears.
