Harkin Expresses Concern for the Department of Labor's Plan to Discontinue Vital Gender Statistics

HARKIN EXPRESSES CONCERN FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR'S PLAN TO DISCONTINUE VITAL GENDER STATISTICS

In bipartisan a letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Josh B. Bolten, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) expressed his concern for the Department of Labor's (DOL) plan to discontinue the Women Worker Series, which gathers vital gender employment information. The recent recession marked the start of the only period of sustained job loss for women in the last forty years. Without this important program, the government would no longer be able to track these and other important trends.

"At a time when women's employment may be changing in fundamental ways, we should be expanding, not reducing, our ability to understand the evolving role of women in the nation's labor force," Harkin said. "It is imperative for policymakers and researchers to continue to have access to the best data available on this issue."

The Women Worker Series tracks non-farm payroll employment hours and earnings for the nation, states, and major metropolitan areas by industry. This data is among the earliest and most closely watched economic indicators for women

Women's wages still lag behind their male counterparts' wages - women make only 76 cents for every dollar that a man makes. Accurate gender employment information is vital to improve women's economic opportunities in our society. Women today are disproportionately employed in certain industries, often-lower-paying occupations, and they have far lower lifetime earnings than men.

"I feel that in considering this discontinuation, DOL has seriously undervalued the importance of the Women Worker Series, ignored broad public support for its continuation, and failed to demonstrate that discontinuing the series will provide any benefit in reducing the burden on survey respondents," Harkin said.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' own estimate, the small portion of the payroll survey designated to the Women Worker Series takes only seven minutes to fill out. In addition, the Bureau received nearly 5,000 comments regarding their decision to eliminate the program, in which 90 percent urged the Department of Labor to continue collecting data on women workers.

Harkin has been a strong advocate for American workers as a senior Democrat on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP). Harkin recently sponsored the Equal Pay Act, which would amend the fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex, race, or national origin. The act would require employers to provide equal pay for jobs that are comparable in skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions.

Harkin was joined in this effort to continue the Women Worker Series by 26 additional Senators.

A PDF of the letter is available upon request.

http://harkin.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=238148