Did you know that today is Equal Pay Day? Did you also know...
1. ... that the Equal Pay Act was signed in 1963? Women made 59 cents on average for every dollar made by men.
2. The definition of pay equity: evaluating and compensating jobs based on skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions, and not on the people who hold the jobs.
3. In 2003, after studying 18 years worth of data, a report by the General Accounting Office found a 20% earning gap between women and men that could not be explained. The consensus? Discrimination.
4. By 2009, women were making 77 cents on average for every dollar made by men. A bit of an improvement, yes, but a narrowing of the wage gap by less than half a cent a year.
5. This wage difference costs the average American woman between $700,000 to $2 million over a working lifetime. It impacts Social Security benefits and pensions.
6. As of 2011, according to The Gender Wage Gap by Occupation report published by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, women earn less than men in 107 of 111 occupations, regardless of levels of education.
What can be done? Passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act which was reintroduced to Congress today. Please spread the word...
