U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) is leading a new House working group that aims to remove obstacles women face in the workplace and provide greater opportunities for women trying to balance the competing demands of work and family.
“I think we’ve come a long way in my lifetime, where more doors are open to women in non-traditional career fields and in leadership, business ownership, military, government and many other sectors,” McSally told the Ripon Advance in a recent interview. “But we still have some very real challenges and barriers, and some of them are related to cultural expectations and biases.”
The House Republican Policy Committee, chaired by U.S. Rep. Luke Messer (R-IN), established the Working Group on Women in the 21st Century Workforce in July, and in late September the group held its first hearing on examining the barriers women face in the workforce. McSally will also hold a hearing on the issue in October in her district.
Forty percent of women are the sole income earners for their families, but the latest Labor Department statistics show that when comparing median salaries for all full-time jobs, women make only 81 cents on the dollar compared to men. Multiplied over a full career, a woman earns about $430,000 less than a man throughout her lifetime.
Those reduced earnings have long-term consequences, impacting the amount that women are able to save or pay into Social Security and 401(k) retirement accounts.
McSally expressed frustration at the political dynamics surrounding the issue of the gender pay gap. The statistics should not be taken out of context and attributed all to discrimination against women, she said.
Many other issues are also responsible for the pay gap, she added, including women entering lower-paying career fields, leaving the workforce to care for children or parents, and challenges with child care.
“We need to be listening to women and identifying root causes and challenges and then come up with thoughtful solutions that actually help women and not hurt businesses,” McSally said, adding the caveat that not every problem takes an act of Congress to fix.
Many women are trying to realize their economic potential while still taking primary responsibility for their children and aging parents. As a result, women also demand more flexibility in the workplace in order to balance work and family needs. That desire for flexibility often comes at a price in the form of reduced salaries.
Adding to the obstacles women face in the workplace is some blatant bias and discrimination that needs to be acknowledged and eliminated, McSally said.
Some labor laws and tax policies may also need to be reexamined with the goal of supporting women.
Certain labor laws, such as the Department of Labor’s final rule updating overtime regulations, may create an additional barrier for women.
“The overtime rule, perhaps well-intended, actually has the potential to hurt women more because if women are in positions where they had been able to work with their employer to provide more flexibility for themselves, the law is now trying to put them back on the clock,” McSally said.
The new role in Congress for McSally comes after she fought discrimination while she served for 26 years in the U.S. Air Force. She was the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat and first to command a fighter squadron in combat in U.S. history.
While stationed in Saudi Arabia, McSally challenged a discriminatory Pentagon policy that required servicewomen to wear Muslim garb when traveling off-base. She fought for eight years to get the policy changed, eventually filing a successful lawsuit against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. She then helped to shepherd legislation that was signed into law by the president to end the policy.
McSally, who now serves on the House Armed Services and Homeland Security committees, said that the members of the working group will hold field hearings over the next several months, and discussions will continue next year.
“It’s important for us to be listening and leading to come up with real solutions to help women,” McSally said.
The working group is also expected to examine some initiatives that have been advocated by House Republicans.
U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) introduced the Workplace Advancement Act, H.R. 5237, to permit employees to discuss compensation with other employees for the sake of ensuring they are receiving equal compensation for equal work.
Legislation from U.S. Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL), the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2015, H.R. 465, would allow private sector employees the option of using their overtime toward compensatory time, or paid time off.