Truth empowers, truth liberates, and it’s time for a little dose of truth. “Equal pay for equal work” has become one of the most overused campaign slogans in this year’s elections.

The statistic that women only receive 77 cents for every dollar a man makes has been used to manipulate voters to rally for candidates around the country. Here in Kentucky, the deception is repeated as well.

The message is because you are a woman, you are discriminated against and are paid less than men. But this type of discrimination is not happening, and for candidates to suggest it means they want you to elect them based, in part, on a false premise.

Nationwide, fact-checkers have already declared the claim that women do not receive equal pay for equal work is false. When women do equal work, they largely do receive equal pay.

The pay gap comes down to three major factors.

First is the type of job in which women work.

As Obama acknowledged in his State of the Union address, lower paying jobs like secretaries, teachers and retail are dominated by women, while higher paying fields like the military, construction and law enforcement are dominated by men. How much each field should get paid is an important discussion to have, but for equal pay, how much each field does get paid is all that is relevant. The fact is, women have (as an overall group) chosen lower paying careers.

Second, men work more hours than women do, including overtime.

Data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics shows that nearly double the amount of men work 40-plus hour weeks when compared women. Because men typically work in higher paying jobs, working overtime compounds their earnings over that of an average woman, even when she does work overtime.

The third factor is children.

Many women choose to have children. While this contributes to working fewer hours than men, the larger issue is job tenure. Like it or not, the traditional family structure still dominates in America, and women often work less to raise children while men work.

Data shows, on average, that men, aged 45-54, have been at their jobs years longer than women in the same age range. This means more chances for raises and promotions.

Other issues, such as paid maternity leave, need to be addressed, and could help women stay at their jobs longer. But currently they do not, and they do not get paid as much because of it.

When these factors are controlled, women earn as much as men. In fact, women control 60 percent of the wealth in this country, and almost all income-gains in our generation have gone to women. Childless women in their 20s actually out-earn men.

I wrote this column because a friend of mine told me she was afraid to ask for a raise due to this very reason. I gave her this information, and two days later she had a raise.

Truth is power.

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