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Equal Pay for Women Still a Long Way Off |
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Today is Equal Pay Day, the day that marks how far into the calendar year a woman must work to earn as much as a man earned last year. Even though women make up a growing portion of the workforce, they continue to make dramatically less than men.
At a national level, women are paid only 77 cents for every dollar a man is paid, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. At a time when America’s economy is facing a downturn, economist Evelyn Murphy, president and founder of The WAGE Project, estimates the wage gap costs the average full-time U.S. woman worker between $700,000 and $2 million over the course of her work life.
These figures are even worse for women of color. African American women earn only 68 cents and Latinas 57 cents for every dollar that men earn. Asian American and Pacific Islander American women earn less, too. Their pay inequality is less severe than for women as a whole, but they still earned only 88 cents for every dollar that men earned in 2000.
Even a college education doesn’t level the playing field for women in the long run. A new study by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation finds women are paid about 80 percent of what men are paid one year out of college. But within 10 years, the gap grows to 69 percent—even if you account for such factors as the number of hours worked, occupations or parenthood, the researchers said.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson said the best way for women to gain pay equality is by joining a union.
For decades, unions have helped women and people of color bridge the wage gap. Through the power of collective bargaining, they have been able to win access to health insurance and other benefits for themselves and their families. In fact, women who belong to unions earn 31 percent more than their nonunion counterparts.
Unfortunately, employers routinely violate workers’ freedom to form unions and the labor law is too weak to stop them….The Employee Free Choice Act would go a long way in the fight for workplace empowerment and equality. This bill seeks to empower workers by putting the choice of whether to form a union back into the hands of workers—not bosses.
A fair day’s work deserves a fair day’s wages. Congress has a unique opportunity to help restore balance and equality at the workplace. We urge that they take it.
The gender pay gap hurts all of us, not just women. Heather Boushey reports on AlterNet that the typical wife in the United States brings home about one-third of her family’s income, and over the past generation, families with a working wife have been more likely to move up the income ladder. When women are short-changed, the whole family suffers.
More than half (57 percent) of the women who responded to the AFL-CIO’s 2006 Ask a Working Woman survey said their jobs did not provide equal pay. Maybe that’s one reason that another 20 percent said they have to work two or more jobs to make ends meet.
Men have another stake in the battle for equal pay: Many get lower pay because of discrimination against women. Men in jobs usually or predominantly held by women, such as sales, service and clerical positions, for example, also are victims of pay bias. For these men, equal pay for women translates into higher pay for them.
A study of several states’ efforts to reduce pay discrimination in state employment found that women and men had benefited from wage adjustments in at least 12 states. In Iowa, for example, where wage adjustments for affected workers averaged about $3,500, men were 41 percent of the beneficiaries.
Another analysis found that implementing equal pay for work of equal value nationwide would raise women’s wages by 13 percent and men’s wages by 1 percent.
The AFL-CIO and working families are supporting two bills that would help close the pay gap:
- The Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 766 and H.R. 1338), which would provide more effective remedies for victims of wage discrimination on the basis of sex.
- The Fair Pay Act (S. 1087), which would prohibit sex-based wage discrimination and would address the issue of comparable worth by calling for equal pay for equivalent work.
Take action and tell your representative to vote for equal pay for women by clicking here.
5 Comments
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Working women
Our great country has made terrific strides in equality of pay and performance achievements. It wasn’t that long ago women were barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. Today- What companies they’re are at least respect equal employment opportunity for the most part. I came from Steel- forth generation. When that thing started in my mom’s dad’s time-1920’s We were still flying the National Banner of the United States and thinking of ourselves as a super power. We kid ourselves with that today. We’re a globilized bunch of no speaking English idiots. So Equal Pay will be lost down the road with everything else traditional. Unless of course you have the enthusiam to see your own company on its feet like a lot of people do. Daniel
When I found out that my male counterparts were making $5.00 more an hour than me, their excuse was “you weren’t supposed to know that and we should fire you.” Companies circumvent equal pay laws by forbidding employees to discuss salaries on the job.
Since men and women are different, in some fields the men are better qualified for the jpb. In other fields, the women are better qualified so pay should be according to work effort and ability.
In the last 30 years, there have been at least as many women as men hired in my industry, the grocery industry. There are all these programs promoting diversity, and encouraging women to join the management team—but the examples at the top show that the glass ceiling is not only still there, but it’s more like plexiglass.
Women are often given more titles and responsibilities, but not more money in compensation. Oh, sure; once in a while we take a maternity leave, if we are inclined to do so, but does that automatically mean that we need to be undercompensated? Are we settling for prestige in exchange for reproductive freedom?
Not only should we be paid equally for equal work, but men should be able to enjoy paternity leave to bond with their children—without penalty. More companies should have broader family-friendly policies, and remove the gender factor from being an issue. Men and women should have equal opportunity to attend to family business away from work, without fear of reprisal, when the need arises.
There is no reason that men should be paid more than women for equal work;if you can’t see the gender on a review, a resume or job application, how can it happen? If both men and women can perform the same tasks, have the same qualifications, and are equally capable of handling the job, the pay should be gender blind.
I know I have been paid like crap, treated like crap and I am sick of this crap. We have a lot of the wrong people in the wrong places and too many poorly paid people in this country. Too many low wage jobs that are dead end—–we ship our good paying jobs out of the country. This has been going on too long.