President Barack Obama gestures toward Lilly Ledbetter (L) before signing two new executive actions aimed at increasing transparency about women's pay during an event at the White House in Washington April 8, 2014. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque) While the White House has argued that the wage gap between men and women in the White House is better than the national average, it is far worst than the average in the District of Columbia.
The pay gap among women in the White House is more than twice as large as the average in the nation’s capital.
While female White House staffers earn about 88 cents for every dollar men in the White House make, women in the District earn about 95 cents for every dollar a men make,according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That’s a 12-cent pay gap at the White House compared to a five-cent pay gap in the District of Columbia.
The metric used to derive both pay gaps is the same the government has used to arrive at the 77-cent national average.
Nevertheless, White House press secretary Jay Carney spent this week arguing that there is no pay discrimination at the White House.
“It is absolutely true that there is equal pay for equal work at the White House,” Carney said Tuesday.
When asked how the White House adopted that position while continuing to use the 77 cent statistic to impugn the rest of the country to the point of signing executive orders and pushing legislation aimed at correcting the stat, Carney responded, “if you want to compare metrics, we’re doing better.”
When compared to the District, which has one of the lowest pay gaps in the country, but the White House is doing much worse.
And while few are arguing there is pay discrimination at the White House and most instead using the statistic to show how the “77 cents” stat is flawed, President Obama Tuesday chastised those who have questioned the 23-cent pay gap assertions.
“Some commentators are out there saying that the pay gap doesn’t even exist. They say it’s a myth. But it’s not a myth; it’s math,” Obama said. “You can look at the paychecks. You can look at the stubs.”
Wednesday, the Washington Post Fact Checker gave Obama twoPinocchios for the 77-cent claim.
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