WASHINGTON – Joint Economic Committee (JEC) Ranking Member Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) issued the following statement Friday after the Department of Labor announced that the economy added 160,000 nonfarm jobs in April, and the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.0 percent. April marked the 74^th consecutive month of private-sector job growth, the longest streak on record.

“For the 74^th consecutive month, the jobs numbers from the Department of Labor show that America continues to make progress after the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. President Obama, Democratic leaders in Congress, and our business community continue to put Americans back to work.

“However, the job is far from over. Too many Americans have not fully recovered from the Great Recession. We need to build on the growth we are enjoying and ensure it reaches everyone. This means continuing the policies that are fueling this growth, as well as raising the minimum wage, demanding equal pay for equal work, and funding improvements in our infrastructure that will put people to work.”

For more information, please go to the JEC Democratic homepage.

WASHINGTON – At today’s hearing of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC), Ranking Democrat Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) and witness Dr. Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, provided evidence that supply-side economics results in reduced revenue for the government, and does not create the economic growth its supporters claim.

At the “Is Our Complex Code Too Taxing on the Economy?” hearing, called to examine whether the current IRS tax code puts an onerous burden on individuals and small businesses through needless complexity, conservative witnesses advocated simplifying the tax code through a reduction in the number of tax brackets and a lower overall tax rate for corporations.

In her opening statement, Congresswoman Maloney said, “Many conservatives claim these simplification plans that translate into huge tax cuts for the wealthy won’t increase deficits and won’t affect the government services that many Americans believe are necessary. The theory is that ‘tax cuts pay for themselves’ – in other words, cutting taxes can translate into such massive economic growth that it leads to higher government revenues. But this math simply does not add up.”

“Despite tax increases under President Bill Clinton, we had a booming economy, and created more than 22 million private-sector jobs, and four straight years of budget surpluses,” she continued. “And then we had two tax cuts under former President George Bush which contributed to massive budget deficits, with the tax cuts by themselves adding, according to some economists, $1.5 trillion to deficits over ten years.” Congresswoman Maloney’s opening statement can be viewed here.

In his testimony, Dr. Bernstein produced charts showing there is no correlation between cutting the top marginal tax rate and increases in employment, investment growth, productivity growth, real per capita GDP, or real median income growth “Fairness, simplicity, and revenue raising are often complementary,” Dr. Bernstein testified. “What makes our system so complex are the exemptions, deductions, privileges for certain types of incomes and activities, and other loopholes that often allow wealthy and businesses flush with tax lawyers to pay less than their fair share.”

“The complications of the tax code are simply not driven by the number of rates,” Dr. Bernstein replied to a question from Congresswoman Maloney. “The complications are driven by all the different definitions of income – the exemptions, the incentives to defer income overseas, to finance investments with debt versus equity, to defer foreign earnings, and so on. That wouldn’t change one whit if filers had one rate as opposed to three or as opposed to twelve. I asked a tax accountant about this – she called it ‘gut-busting laughable’ that somehow reducing the number of rates would make a difference if you left all these other complexities in place.”

Dr. Bernstein’s opening statement can be viewed here.

“When we talk about making the tax code less complex, let’s not be fooled by claims that we simply need to ‘flatten’ the code,” Rep. Maloney added. “This will make it more regressive, shifting more of the tax burden onto the middle class and the poor. And let’s not continue to pretend that ‘tax cuts pay for themselves.’ History has shown that they do not.”

The hearing can be viewed in its entirety here.                                             

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WASHINGTON – Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC), joined Oscar-winning actress Patricia Arquette at the National Press Club today to discuss how the gender pay gap affects women across different races and ethnicities, age groups, occupations and levels of education.

Rep. Maloney and Ms. Arquette discussed the findings of a new JEC report, Gender Pay Inequality: Consequences for Women, Families and the Economy. According to the report, over the course of a career the gender pay gap can result in nearly a half million dollars in lower earnings for the typical woman than the typical man.

The event was scheduled to coincide with Equal Pay Day, which represents how long women have to work into 2016 to make what their male counterparts earned in 2015.

“The report shows that the gender pay gap creates a lifetime of income losses for women, which lead to long-term economic inequality,” Joint Economic Committee Ranking Member Carolyn Maloney said. “Frankly, it is inexcusable that a woman still makes only 79 cents for every dollar made by a man. And it’s much worse for older women and women of color.”

The JEC study includes the most up-to-date earnings data, broken down not only by gender, age and race, but also by state and congressional district. The new report offers a fresh perspective on the frequently cited fact that women working full time, year-round earn only 79 percent of what men earn, based on median annual earnings. The difference amounts to $10,800 in a single year, and can approach a half million dollars over the course of a career.

At the joint press conference, Ms. Arquette discussed how her struggles as a single mother in her twenties led her to become an advocate for equal pay. At the 2015 Academy Awards, she called for action on the gender wage gap in her speech accepting the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her work in “Boyhood.”

“I want to thank Patricia Arquette for lending her voice and her energy to this important fight that is just as relevant today as at any time in history,” Rep. Maloney added. “I hope her public call made women and employers alike pause and consider how unequal pay for men and women affects families and the economy—and what we can do to fix it.”

The report analyzes an aspect of the gender pay gap that is less well understood – lower career earnings cause women to have substantially less retirement income than men. Retirement income for women ages 65 and older is 44 percent less than the median income for men in the same age group. Women 75 years and older are almost twice as likely to live in poverty as men.

The report, prepared by JEC Minority Staff under the direction of Rep. Carolyn Maloney, examines multiple factors contributing to the gender pay gap, especially the high price women pay for becoming mothers and caring for their children and families. In addition, it highlights that even when various known factors for differences in pay are taken into account, approximately 40 percent of the gap remains—this may point to lingering discrimination.

In addition, the JEC study also finds that the gender pay gap between white men and women of color is extremely large; African-American women earn only 60 percent of what their white male counterparts earn, and Hispanic women earn only 55 percent of white men’s earnings.

The report also finds very large differences across states. For example, the gap between men’s and women’s median earnings in Washington, DC is only 10 percent, but it is 35 percent in Louisiana.

 

KEY POINTS

• A woman working full time, year-round earns $10,800 less per year than a man, based on median annual earnings. This disparity can add up to nearly a half million dollars over a career.
  
  
• On a percentage basis, a woman earns only 79 percent of what a man earns. This is known as the “gender earnings ratio.” The 21-percent difference between men’s and women’s earnings means that women are paid less than $4 for every $5 paid to men.
  
  
• Although the gender pay gap has narrowed over time, at the current rate of change, it will not close until 2059, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
  
  
• Lower career earnings result in an even greater disparity in retirement income. Income of women ages 65 and older ($17,400) is 44 percent less than the median income for men in the same age group ($31,200). Women 75 years and older are almost twice as likely to live in poverty as men.
  
  
• The gender pay gap varies widely across states, from a low of 10 percent in Washington, DC, to a high of 35 percent in Louisiana.
  
  
• Women’s median earnings are lower at every level of education. In fact, women are often out-earned by men with less education: the typical woman with a graduate degree earns $5,000 less than the typical man with a bachelor’s degree.
  
  
• Women of color face even larger gender pay gaps. Compared to white, non-Hispanic men, African-American women, on average, are paid only 60 cents on the dollar and Latinas earn only 55 cents on the dollar.
  
  
• The pay gap typically grows with age. While women ages 18 to 24 earn 88 percent of what their male counterparts earn, women over age 35 earn only 76 percent.
  
  
• Economists believe that the gender wage gap is caused by complex factors. However, even when all those factors are taken into account, as much as 40 percent of the pay gap may be attributed to discrimination.
  
  
• American families depend on women’s earnings. In the typical (median) household with a mother working outside the home, women contribute nearly 40 percent of their family’s total earnings.
  
  
• Women’s increased participation in the paid labor force has been a major driver of economic growth in recent decades. According to the Council of Economic Advisers, the U.S. economy is $2.0 trillion bigger today than it would have been if women had not increased their participation and hours since 1970.
  
  
• Enacting policies that would narrow the gender pay gap and help more women work full time in the paid labor force would decrease income inequality and lift many women out of poverty.

 

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WASHINGTON – Joint Economic Committee (JEC) Ranking Democrat Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) issued the following statement Friday after the Department of Labor announced that the economy added 215,000 nonfarm jobs in March and the unemployment rate was little changed at 5.0 percent.  March marked the 73rd consecutive month of private-sector job growth, the longest streak on record.

“Job creation has been remarkably consistent over what is now more than six years of job growth. During this time, businesses have added more than 14.4 million jobs.  Even with these impressive job gains, too many Americans are struggling to make ends meet and to get back to where they stood before the Great Recession hit. 

“President Obama, Democrats in Congress and the Federal Reserve played key roles in helping to bring about recovery.  Research by economists Alan Blinder and Mark Zandi shows that without these joint efforts—most of which were opposed by Republicans—the recession would have lasted twice as long and job losses would have been about twice as great.

“There is much more we can do that will have a positive economic impact—upgrading our nation’s infrastructure, increasing the minimum wage, achieving equal pay for equal work and investing in education at every level.  But instead of working with Democrats, Republicans were unable to bring a budget to the floor before the House left for a two-week recess and unwilling to postpone the recess to do the important work of governing. 

“When we return, Congress will have just a few days to pass a budget by the April 15^th deadline. A budget should be a statement of values.  In this case, the absence of a budget reveals a culture of Republican dysfunction. It’s time Republicans work with Democrats to pursue policies that will help middle-class families get ahead.”

For more information, please go to the JEC Democratic homepage.