Also read: pay disparity, women's rights, Weldon Latham, wage discrimination, Inside View
More women are getting college degrees than men these days, but they still aren't being paid as much. In 2008, 29.4 million women and 28.4 million men ages 25 and older held bachelor's degrees or higher, according to just-released data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Women had a larger share of high-school diplomas, as well as associate and master's degrees.
But why are educational gains not translating into pay equity for college-educated, full-time working women? What's the solution?
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According to Washington, D.C.-based women's-rights group American Association of University Women (AAUW), a typical college-educated woman 25 years and older working full time earns $50,600 a year (versus $70,800 for college-educated male workers 25 years and older).
Today marks Equal Pay Day, a reminder that your daughters, wives, sisters and mothers must work from January 2008 through April 2009 to earn what their male counterparts earned last year. With rising unemployment rates and more women taking on the "breadwinner" role, it's important that the Equal Pay Act of 1963 promise of "equal pay for equal work" be provided for everyone. The reality: Working families in the United States lose about $200 billion of income annually to the gender-wage gap, reports AAUW.
"Our analysis is quite disturbing," said AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman. "This is just one of the reasons why we're urging the Senate to join the House and pass the Paycheck Fairness Act."
Although the Obama administration has already signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to help end wage discrimination, the pending Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 182/H.R. 12) is still awaiting passage from the Senate. (It passed the House by a strong bipartisan vote--256-163--in January 2009.) The measure will update the 45-year-old Equal Pay Act by strengthening incentives to prevent pay discrimination. Specifically, it would:
· Close a loophole in affirmative defenses for employers, clarifying acceptable reasons for differences in pay
· Clarify the establishment provision under the Equal Pay Act, which would allow for reasonable comparisons between employees within defined geographical areas to determine fair wages. For more on the Paycheck Fairness Act, click here
This is important because pay disparities, the AAUW found, vary significantly from state to state.
The narrowest wage gaps are found in the District of Columbia, Vermont and California; full-time female workers there earn about 85 percent as much as their male counterparts.
Where are the widest pay gaps found? Wyoming (women earn 62 percent of what men make), West Virginia (65 percent) and North Dakota (66 percent). For a full state-by-state gender pay-gap report from AAUW, click here.
To show your support of the Paycheck Fairness Act, click here.
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