Falling Short in Every State:
The Wage Gap and Harsh Economic Realities for Women Persist
More than forty-five years ago, President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law, making it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who perform substantially equal work. The following year, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted, making it illegal to discriminate, including in compensation, on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, and national origin. At the time of the Equal Pay Act’s passage in 1963, women were paid merely 59 cents to every dollar earned by men. Although enforcement of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII has helped to narrow the wage gap, significant disparities remain and must be addressed.
The Gender Wage Gap Persists And Reflects Discrimination
Wage disparities are of particular concern in light of the present economy. More than 14.4 million women – about one in eight – are poor, and women were 42 percent more likely to live in poverty than men in 2007. While it is well-documented that men have been hit hard by the current recession, women are suffering too: In March 2009, women’s unemployment jumped to 7 percent, the highest rate in over 25 years. Indeed, since September 2008, as the recession has spread from male-dominated sectors to female-dominated service and retail sectors, women’s unemployment has risen slightly faster than men’s unemployment. Making sure women are fairly paid is a key tool to address these economic realities.
The earnings gap between men and women is deep and wide and exists in every state, impacting all women across race, class, and occupation. For example:
- In 2007, women working full-time, year-round were paid only 78 cents for every dollar earned by men, and the earnings were significantly worse for women of color.
- The median earnings of white, non-Hispanic women working full-time, year round were only 73 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic males.
- African American women earned just 62 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men, while Hispanic women earned only 53 cents on the dollar compared to white, non-Hispanic males.
- There is not a single state in which women have gained economic equality with men. As of 2007, Washington, D.C. was the area with the smallest wage gap, at 93%, whereas Wyoming had the widest gap, with women making about 63% of what men earned. View state-by-state information on how women continue to be short-changed in their pay.
The wage gap cannot be dismissed as the result of “women’s choices” in career and family matters. In fact, recent authoritative studies show that even when all relevant career and family attributes are taken into account, there is still a significant, unexplained gap in men’s and women’s earnings. These studies are borne out by case after case, in the courts and in the news, of suits brought by women charging their employers with wage discrimination. Even when women make the same career choices as men and work the same hours, they still earn less.
The Paycheck Fairness Act Will Target This Wage Gap
Congress has recently taken steps to improve the laws that govern pay discrimination. In January, President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which reverses the Supreme Court’s harmful decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., and restores the right of victims of pay discrimination on the basis of sex, race, national origin, age, religion and disability to challenge the discrimination in court.
Although the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was a critical step to address the wage gap for women, it simply restores the law that had long been accepted prior to the Supreme Court’s decision in Ledbetter. But more is necessary both to strengthen the standards of equal pay laws, which have been weakened over time by courts, and to require the federal government to be more proactive in preventing and battling wage discrimination. In particular, the Paycheck Fairness Act, which has already passed the House of Representatives, would serve these goals. Among other things, the Paycheck Fairness Act would:
- Improve Equal Pay Act Remedies: The Act allows prevailing plaintiffs to obtain a full range of remedies for pay discrimination.
- Facilitate Class Action Equal Pay Act Claims: To ensure that relief will be provided to all those who are injured by the unlawful practice, the Act allows an Equal Pay Act lawsuit to proceed as a class action in conformity with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
- Prohibit Employer Retaliation: The Act prohibits employers from punishing employees for sharing salary information with their coworkers. This change will greatly enhance employees’ ability to learn about wage disparities and to evaluate whether they are experiencing wage discrimination.
- Require the Federal Government to Take Proactive Steps to Address Wage Discrimination: The Act provides for increased training for EEOC employees to help them identify and respond to wage discrimination claims and for enhancing Department of Labor research on ways to eliminate gender-based pay disparities. The Act also calls on the government to collect and monitor pay data.
In these economically perilous times, the Paycheck Fairness Act is critical to provide women the tools necessary to realize the decades-old promise of equal pay for equal work.
For more information, download the full state-by-state report [PDF]
April 2009