Valerie Jarett

Valerie Jarrett On Gender Pay Gap: Women Are More Important To Family Income Than Ever

Reposted from the Huffington Post.

Valerie Jarrett is sick of the “ridiculous” gap between men’s and women’s salaries, and she told HuffPost Live that now is time for a change more than ever.

Speaking with host Alyona Minkovski from the White House Summit On Working Families, President Obama’s senior adviser explained that as women become more significant contributors to household income — if not the onlycontributors — wage inequality is entirely unacceptable.

“This is no longer just a women’s issue, it’s a family issue… A woman’s contribution to the family income is more important than ever,” Jarrett said.

When a woman is underpaid for no other reason than her gender, with fewer funds for household expenses than a male peer, the purchasing power of her entire family is compromised. In an economy still bouncing back from recession, this hardly seems logical.

Jarrett also stressed the need for transparency in the workplace, so women can detect when they aren’t getting a fair piece of the pie.

“Every woman needs to know when she’s being discriminated against and what the reasons are why she isn’t getting equal pay so we can close that pay gap,” she said.

See the full HuffPost Live conversation with Valerie Jarrett in the video below.