As Gender Pay Inequality In The U.S. Persists, Fox News Still Thinks It's A “Myth”
Written by Alexandrea Boguhn
Published
A new report that ranked the United States 65th in the world on gender pay equality discredits Fox News' continuing campaign to dismiss the gender pay gap.
According to a recently released report by the World Economic Forum examining gender equality across the world, the United States ranks 65th in their survey of 142 countries and earns a wage equality score of only 66 percent -- meaning women earn only two-thirds of what men earn for similar work. The report, which drew from nine years of data, found that there has been “only a small improvement in equality for women in the workplace” since they began surveying the issue, and predicted that women won't see full gender equality in the workplace until at least the year 2095.
Despite the persistence of pay inequality in the United States, Fox News has continuously rejected the gender wage gap as a myth and a "meme," denied its existence entirely, and falsely attempted to attribute the gap to women's personal choices and "emotional difference[s]."
Just weeks ahead of the upcoming midterm elections, the network has even downplayed pay inequality as an issue not important enough to “drive voters to the polls,” but polling data shows the issue matters to women. A September poll from Gallup found that “nearly four in 10 Americans say equal pay is the top issue facing working women in the United States today.” That number was even higher for working women themselves, a majority of whom cited it as the most important issue they faced.