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Economic Problems of Women

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Economic Problems of Women 6EL ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF WOMEN HEARINGS BEFORE THE JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES NINETY-THIRD CONGRESS FIRST SESSION PART 1 JULY 10, 11, AND 12, 1973 Printed for the use of the Joint Economic Committee U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 21-495 0 WASHINGTON: 1973 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 -Price $1.65 :! eg .-' ft 01 JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE (Created pursuant to sec. 5(a) of Public Law 304, 79th Cong.) WRIGHT PATMAN, Texas, Chairman WILLIAM PROXMIRE, Wisconsin, Vice Chairman HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - -SENATE - RICHARD BOLLING, Missouri JOHN SPARKMAN, Alabama HENRY S. REUSS, Wisconsin J. W. FULBRIGHT, Arkansas MARTHA W. GRIFFITHS, Michigan ABRAHAM RIBICOFF, Connecticut WILLIAM S. MOORHEAD, Pennsylvania HUBERT H. HUMPHREY, Minnesota HUGH L. CAREY, New York LLOYD M. BENTSEN, JR., Texas WILLIAM B. WIDNALL, New Jersey JACOB K. JAVITS, New York BARBER B. CONABLE, Ja., New York CHARLES H. PERCY, Illinois CLARENCE J. BROWN, Ohio JAMES B. PEARSON, Kansas BEN B. BLACKBURN, Georgia RICHARD S. SCHWEIKER, Pennsylvania JOHN R. STARK, Executive Director LOUGHLIN F. MCHUGH, Senior Economist ECONOMISTS WILLIAM A. Cox Lucy A. FALCONE SARAH JACKSON JERRY J. JASINOWSKI JOHN R. KARLIK RICHARD F. KAUFMAN L. DOUGLAS LEE COURTENAY M. SLATER MINORITY LESLIE J. BANDER GEORGE D. KRUMBHAAR, Jr. (Counsel) WALTER B. LAEssso (Counsel) (II) CONTENTS WITNESSES AND STATEMENTS TUESDAY, JULY 10, 1973 The Economics of Sex Discriminationin Employment Griffiths, Hon. Martha W., member of the Joint Economic Committee Page (presiding): Opening statement ----- 1 Whitman, Hon. Marina, member, Council of Economic Advisers, accom- panied by June O'Neill, staff member- 3 Stein, Hon. Herbert, Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers -38 Bergmann, Barbara R., professor of economics and director, Project on the Economics of Discrimination, University of Maryland -51 Samuelson, Paul A., professor of economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology --------------------- 58 WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 1973 Federal Efforts To End Sex Discrimination in Employment Gr!ffiths, Hon. Martha W., member of the Joint Economic Committee (presiding): Opening statement -73 Brown, Hon. William H., III, Chairman, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ----------------------------- 74 DeLury, Hon. Bernard E., Assistant Secretary for Employment Standards, U.S. Department of Labor, accompanied by Carmen R. Maymi, Di- rector, Women's Bureau; George Travers and Doris Wooten, Office of Federal Contract Compliance; and Morag M. Simchak, Employment Standards Administration -92 Hoontz, Elizabeth Duncan, former Director, Women's Bureau, Depart- ment of Labor -112 Sandler, Bernice, director, Project on the Status and Education of Women, Association of American Colleges -118 Hernandez, Aileen C., former member, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ---------------------------- 128 THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1973 Women's Access to Credit and Insurance Griffiths, Hon. Martha W., member of the Joint Economic Committee (presiding): Opening statement - 151 Denenberg, Hon. Herbert S., commissioner of insurance, State of Pennsyl- vania ---------------------------------------------------------- 153 Shack, Barbara, assistant director, New York Civil Liberties Union - 168 Rohde, Steven, member of the staff, Center for National Policy Review, School of Law, Catholic University, testifying for William L. Taylor, director -191 Gates, Margaret J., and Jane R. Chapman, codirectors, Center for Women Policy Studies ---------------------------------- 202 SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD TUESDAY, JULY 10, 1973 3ergmann, Barbara R.: Prepared statement -70----------------------- - 54 "'Hidden' Unemployment Among Women -- 70 (m) IV Samuelson, Paul A.: Page Paper entitled "Economics of Sex: A Discussion"-61 Stein, Hon. Herbert: Response to additional written questions posed by Representative Griffiths - 48 Whitman, Hon. Marina, et al.: Chapter 4, from the 1973 Economic Report of the President, entitled "The Economic Role of Women"- 4 Supplement to chapter 4, from the 1973 Economic Report of the President ----------- 28 WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 1973 Brown, Hon. William H., III: Prepared statement -79 EEOC guidelines on discrimination because of sex-83 DeLury, Hon. Bernard E., et al.: Prepared statement -93 Letter of response to Representative Griffiths' request to supply for the record information concerning employment by sex in the Office of Federal Contract Compliance, information on money budgeted for the Citizens' Advisory Council on the Status of Women, and information on resource requirements for the Employment Stand- ards Administration -108 Letter of response to Representative Griffiths' request to supply for the record statistical data about the Department's record of enforcement under the Equal Pay Act of 1963, as well as a report of the Department's activity under Executive Order 11246, as amended --------------------------------- 109 Griffiths, Hon. Martha W.: Letter to Hon. Bernard E. DeLury, Assistant Secretary for Employ- ment Standards, Department of Labor, requesting statistical data about the Department's record of enforcement under the Equal Pay Act of 1963, as well as a report of the Department's activity under Executive Order 11246, as amended -109 Hernandez, Aileen C.:. Prepared statement -133 Sandler, Bernice: Prepared statement -122 THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1973 Denenberg, Hon. Herbert S.: Prepared statement -158 Letter of response to Representative Griffiths' seven questions perti- nent to insurance ----------------------- 218 Gates, Margaret J., and Jane R. Chapman: Prepared statement -203 Griffiths, Hon. Martha W.: Letter to Hon. Herbert S. Denenberg, commissioner of insurance, State of Pennsylvania, posing seven questions pertinent to insur- ance -217 Rohde, Steven: Prepared statement of William L. Taylor - 195 Shack, Barbara: Prepared statement - 173 ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF WOMEN TUESDAY, JULY 10, 1973 CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, JOINT EcoNOM[IC COMMITTEE, Washington, D.C. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:12 a.m., in room S-407, the Capitol Building, Hon. Martha W. Griffiths (member of the committee) presiding. Present: Representative Griffiths and Widnall. Also present: John R. Stark, executive director, Lucy A. Falcone, Sharon S. Galm, L. Douglas Lee, and Courtenay M. Slater, profes- sional staff members; Michael J. Runde, administrative assistant; George D. Krumbhaar, Jr., minority counsel; and Walter B. Laessig, minority counsel. OPENING STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE GRIFFITHS Representative GRIFFITHS. The committee will come to order. I would like to point out that in the years that I have been a mem- ber of the Joint Economic Committee I do not recall the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers ever failing to appear promptly before this committee. I understand that Mr. Stein was at the White House, that he has left the White House, and that he will be here to answer questions. Therefore, I would like to begin with an announcement and when I have finished, Mrs. Whitman, if you would like, you may read the statement. And when Mr. Stein appears we will ask him questions. Today the Joint Economic Committee begins 7 days of hearings on economic problems of women. While much has been said and writ- ten about discrimination against women in the last few years, neither Congress nor any administration has ever really considered the cost to the Nation, nor to women individually or as groups, of the eco- nomic discrimination against women. During these hearings we will focus on economic discrimination-in employment, in earnings, in credit, insurance, taxes, social security and transfer programs. In some of these areas Congress has passed legislation to correct discrimi- nation, and it remains for these laws to be enforced by the executive branch. In many areas, however. Congress itself is at fault, for not giving priority to legislation which would correct abuses against women. During the course of these hearings we expect to gather factual evidence and expert opinions necessary for formulation of a compre- hensive economic policy which includes women as first-class citizens. Women have been unfairly treated as secondary workers and second- (1) 2 class citizens for too long. We must change our laws to make work done by women the economic equal of work done by men. Who decides, and why, that the value of the work done in the business world is more important if done by men than if done by women? We expect to focus today on the economics of employment discrim- ination. It is a little recognized fact that most women work because of economic need and not to satisfy their own whims. Two-thirds of all women in the labor force are either single, divorced, separated, or have husbands who earn less than $7,000 a year. These women, by necessity, have a strong attachment to the labor force. They don't work for pin money and they can't afford a diletante's approach to entering and leaving the labor force. But how are such facts treated by the business and political worlds? Women experience rates of unemployment substantially above males, and over time the ratio of female unemployment to male unem- ployment has worsened. In 1972, the uneployment rate for women was 6.6 percent compared to 4.9 percent for men. This means that 2.2 million women were unable to find jobs; another 1.2 million women who wanted full-time work could find only part-time jobs. There were also 500.000 women who became so discouraged about the possibility of
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