Survey Says: Americans Share Thoughts on Gender and Pay

California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law the nation’s toughest pay equity law, and Americans strongly support it.

The new law mandates equal pay for men and women if they do “substantially similar work,” even if they have different job titles or work at different locations.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 60% of American adults favor such an equal pay requirement, while 26% are opposed. Thirteen percent are undecided.

Under current law, men and women must hold exactly the same jobs as a requirement for equal pay.

Thirty-five percent of Americans believe differences in pay between men and women are primarily due to discrimination. Twenty-one percent attribute pay differences to different levels of experience, while another 21% say it’s due to different levels of ability.

Thirteen percent think differences in compensation are due to some other factor, while 11% are not sure.

Sixty-three percent of employed Americans said in 2013 that men and women generally receive equal pay for equal work at their workplace.

Sixty-nine percent of women favor an equal pay requirement like the one recently passed in California, compared to 51% of men. Forty-one percent of women think discrimination is the main driver behind unequal pay, but only 29% of men agree. S