Equal Pay for Equal Work

OurFuture.org

Equal Pay for Equal Work

So far this year, one issue of special importance to women has largely been ignored: pay equity. In 2004 election exit polls, sixty-percent of women said that “equal pay for women” was not discussed enough. In 2006, over half of women said that gender equality should be a high priority for Congress. Any progressive advocate seeking to persuade women this year should have the facts on pay equity. Sources http://ga3.org/ct/DdNiw6K1nSjO/

* Women are being denied equal pay for equal work. Women earn 78 cents for every dollar earned by men. Over the course of her career, the typical working woman loses almost a quarter of a million dollars in wages, simply for being female. Losses for women with advanced degrees or careers in high-paying fields can total as much as $2 million over their working lives. Across the nation, the gender pay gap costs families $200 billion every year. Sources http://ga3.org/ct/DdNiw6K1nSjO/

* Gender—not education, experience, or achievement—is the sole cause of the pay gap between men and women. A longitudinal study of male and female professionals found that the gender pay gap begins immediately after college, when women take first jobs that pay only 80 percent as much as men’s first jobs do, and continues throughout women’s lives. Women are paid less though they earn higher college GPAs, are more likely to complete graduate work or advanced training, and spend about as much time at work as men do. Sources http://ga3.org/ct/DdNiw6K1nSjO/

* Current efforts to ensure pay equality are insufficient. Since the Equal Pay Act was signed in 1963, the gender wage gap has narrowed by less than half a cent per year. At this rate, women and men will have to wait another fifty years to earn equal wages. The Government Accounting Office reported that the federal government is not doing enough to address gender pay discrimination. Sources http://ga3.org/ct/DdNiw6K1nSjO/

* Conservatives have a terrible record on equal pay. Conservatives in Congress have called the proposed Paycheck Fairness Act “unnecessary” and blocked cloture on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in the Senate. George Bush’s Labor Secretary even recommended that he veto the bill. John McCain didn’t show up to vote on the Ledbetter Act and told a 14-year old girl at a townhall, “I don’t think [the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is] doing anything to help the rights of women, except maybe help trial lawyers and others in that profession.” Sources http://ga3.org/ct/DdNiw6K1nSjO/

* Current economic conditions are likely to hit women hardest. Women are at risk in the current foreclosure crisis, since they were targeted by subprime lenders. Though women on average have higher credit scores than men do, women are 32 percent more likely than men to have subprime mortgages. Women were also hurt by past recessions: during the 2001 recession, the rate of job loss among women was higher than it was for men in many industries. Sources http://ga3.org/ct/DdNiw6K1nSjO/

Progressive Solution

The Paycheck Fairness Act http://ga3.org/ct/D7Niw6K1nSjW/ will make filing a discrimination claim easier, provide protection for workers who blow the whistle on pay discrimination, and strengthen the Department of Labor’s efforts to ensure fair pay for all workers.

Making Sense Alerts and Fact Sheets:
For Equal Pay for Equal Work, click here. http://ga3.org/ct/DdNiw6K1nSjO/
For Manufacturing an Economy that Works for Working Americans, click here. http://ga3.org/ct/D1Niw6K1nSj6/
For What About Our Sinking Economy, click here. http://ga3.org/ct/JpNiw6K1nSjb/
For others on education, energy, health, taxation, trade, social security, and more, click here. http://ga3.org/ct/J7Niw6K1nSjg/


About This Email
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This is the forty-first of CAF's Making Sense 2008 emails. We're sending brief talking points to our progressive allies throughout 2008 regarding kitchen table economic issues. Please feel free to share these with your colleagues. They can subscribe to our Making Sense 2008 email list here: http://ga3.org/caf/making_sense_2008_email_signup.html

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