Hooray! The Equal Pay Act turns 50 today!
Wait, what? Isn't there still a pretty big disparity between what men and women make?
The sad fact is the the Equal Pay Act was a start, but we've yet to accomplish the goal of men and women getting equal pay for equal work.
Women, on average, still make just 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. That's 17 cents better than in 1963, when the act was signed by President John F. Kennedy, but it's still not good enough. In Montana, the situation is even worse. Here women make the fourth lowest wages in the state -- just 74 cents an hour compared to men. There are simply too man loopholes.
So what are you going to do about it? How about joining in on our Equal Pay Today! campaign to end years of discrimination against female workers?
The campaign, which is being run and supported by women's rights groups all over the country, aims to solve these issues:
- Women making less for the same job: Women are paid less than men in nearly every occupation.
- Job segregation: Sex role stereotypes lead to women being segregated into female-dominated lower-paid jobs and impose barriers to women’s entry into higher-paid male-dominated occupations.
- Retaliation against workers for discussing their pay: A majority of employees report that they are either prohibited or actively discouraged from discussing their salary.
- Pay reductions due to pregnancy and caregiving responsibilities: Employers pay women less from the moment of hire and deny them promotions based on gender stereotypes about the proper role for women and the assumption that women workers will have children and either leave the workforce or commit less time and dedication to their jobs. Some employers also refuse to provide pregnant workers with the same minor adjustments to their jobs that the employers routinely provide to other employees who are temporarily unable to perform all aspects of their jobs.
- Wage theft: Women in many industries are being paid less than minimum or a living wage, being shorted hours, being forced to work off the clock, not being paid overtime, or not being paid at all.
Women deserve and have a right to equal pay for their work.
