Equal Pay Act: Struggles for Gender Equality

Equal Pay for Women June 10, 1963: John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law. Almost four decades later, mens and womens salaries have yet to reach equality, even with similar education, skills and experience. The Equal Pay Act requires that men and women be given equal pay for equal work in the same establishment. The Jobs dont need to be identical, but they must be substantially equal. Although the Equal pay Act has helped many women find sufficient education and working opportunities, it still has its hardships when it comes to families.

According to Americas Union Movement 72 percent of mothers with children younger that 18 work for pay.

Also according to a study done by AFL-CIO working families pay a steep price for unequal pay. Americas working families lose a staggering $200 billion of income annually to the wage gap. The wage gap according to infoplease.com is a statistical indicator often used as an index of the status of womens earnings relative to mens.

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The wage gap is expresses as a percentage and is calculated by dividing the median annual earnings for women by the median annual earnings for men.

It seems that the rate of closing the gape between men and women is about to half a penny a year. If married women were paid the same as a comparable man, their family incomes would rise by nearly 6 percent and their families poverty rates would be cut in half. In the late 1960s unequal jobs for lower pay for women was at an all time high.

Newspapers would publish job listings in the help wanted sections, but a little differently than they would today. The job listings were separated into columns for men and women, with the higher level jobs listed as Help Wanted- Male. Also, they would run the same ad for the same job under both columns but having a huge difference in the pay scale.

Between 1950 and 1960, women with full time jobs earned on average between 59-64 cants fir every dollar their male partners earned at the same job. According the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission employers may not pay unequal wages to men and women who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility, and that are performed under similar working conditions with the same establishment. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also gives further explanations of these issues.

Such as skill, which I measured by factors such as experience, ability, education, and training. To me this seems fair women and men can have the same amount of experience and education. Effort is the amount of physical or mental exertion needed to perform a job. Women and men can be equal when it comes to mental exertions, but what about physical; we all know that most men are stronger and more able to do heavy lifting. Responsibility, which is the degree of accountability required to perform the job. Working conditions, the physical surrounding such as temperature, fumes and ventilation and different kinds of safety hazards.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2007, women are paid only 77 cents to every dollar a man is paid. These figures are even worse for women of color. African American women only earn 68 cents and Latinas 57 cents to every dollar a man earns. Today, women work in many different fields and still experience a difference in their wage. For example a women lawyer whose weekly earnings are $206 less than a male attorney. Which the last time I checked a lawyer is a higher rank than an attorney. Same thing with doctors, nurses, teachers, and food service supervisors, they all earn less than their male counterparts for the same job. In conclusion, even though the Equal Pay act was past about 45 years ago, our economy still struggles with equal pay for women and men. This issue also brings struggles to home life; will we ever fix this issue? The way things are going right now probably not.