Banishing the Wage Gap to the History Books

In 1963, when the Equal Pay Act passed, the typical wage gap between men and women was 41 cents. Today, it stands at 23 cents. 

We've come a long way. But we still have a long way to go. Yesterday, the National Press Club was packed with folks eager to hear from a five-star group of panelists about what we need to do to finally close the gap. 

Marcia Greenberger described the worn-out stereotype that is still used to rationalize lower pay for women — that women work for "pin money" while men work to support the family. 

Joy-Ann Reid added that although the Archie Bunker world where women's "proper place" is in the home (which, she noted, was never the reality for all women other than on tv) is in some ways far behind us, women still get paid less than men in the same job based on the bizarre-o notion that simply because they're women, they are somehow worth less. 

And the wage gap is much worse for African-American and Hispanic women. Even in our Nation's capital, where President Kennedy signed the landmark Equal Pay Act into law, African-American women make 53 cents and Hispanic women make 44 cents for every dollar a white, non-Hispanic man makes. As Hilary Shelton from the NAACP explained, these unequal wages perpetuate poverty, keeping families of color from rising to the middle class. 

Ai-jen Poo from the National Domestic Workers Alliance brought home the profound irony of excluding the nearly all-female workforce of domestic workers, who "make all other work possible," from the protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act. She's right. It's time to finally recognize the value of women's work. We can do that by raising the minimum wage and the tipped minimum wage, and bringing these workers within the FLSA's protections. 

AnnMarie Duchon shared her personal story about fighting for fair pay. AnnMarie was able to find out she was being paid less than her male coworker because of a Massachusetts law requiring pay transparency for public employees. But too many workers are kept in the dark about their coworkers' wages, and afraid to ask because employers either expressly forbid or discourage them from asking. That's why the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would make it against the law for employers to retaliate against workers for discussing their pay, is so important. 

We heard from Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro about the relentless advocacy that led to passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963. Now it's our turn. 

AnnMarie told us that she wants her daughter to one day read about the wage gap in a history book — but NEVER to experience it. Let's make that dream come true for AnnMarie's daughter and for all our daughters.