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.
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.
Unions 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.
Adapted from the AFL-CIO blog, http://blog.aflcio.org
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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.
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.
Unions 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.
Adapted from the AFL-CIO blog, http://blog.aflcio.org