Equal Pay and the Wage Gap

American women who work full-time, year-round are paid only 77 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts.  We're working to reduce this wage gap and to ensure that male and female employees get equal pay and benefits for comparable work.  An important tool to combat this inequity is the Paycheck Fairness Act, a commonsense bill that would give workers stronger tools to combat wage discrimination, bar retaliation against workers for discussing salary information, and ensure full compensation for victims of gender-based pay discrimination.  The Equal Employment Opportunity Restoration Act (EEORA) is another important bill that addresses employment discrimination by removing the barriers that the Supreme Court erected in Wal-Mart v. Dukes to employees' rights to bring class-action suits under antidiscrimination laws. And raising the minimum wage would help close the wage gap, because two-thirds of minimum wage workers are women.

 

50th Anniversary of the Equal Pay Act:

Equal Pay Day 2013:

Learn More About the Wage Gap:

Learn More about the Equal Employment Opportunity Restoration Act:

Learn More About the Paycheck Fairness Act:

Learn more about the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act:

 

 The Wage Gap, State by State Women are Not WorthLess Video
Families depend on women's wages more than ever. Read our fact sheets on the state-by-state wage gaps. Watch our Women are Not WorthLess video on the wage gap and be sure to share it with your friends!

Highlights

Reports & Toolkits | 50 Years & Counting: The Unfinished Business of Achieving Fair Pay

June 10, 2013

THE EQUAL PAY ACT is the landmark law passed 50 years ago that requires employers to pay men and women equally for substantially equal work. Yet 50 years later, equal pay is still America’s unfinished business. 

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Fact Sheet | Wage Gap FAQs

October 5, 2012

The typical American woman who worked full time, year round was still paid only 77 cents for every
dollar paid to her male counterpart in 2011.1 For women of color, the gap was even larger. This fact sheet provides details about the wage gap measure that the Census and the National Women’s Law Center use, factors contributing to the wage gap, and how to shrink the gap.

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Fact Sheet | Closing the Wage Gap is Crucial for Women of Color and Their Families

April 2, 2013

American women who work full time, year round are paid only 77 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts. But the wage gap is even larger for many women of color working full time, year round, as African-American women are paid only 64 cents, and Hispanic women only 55 cents, for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. These gaps translate into a loss of $18,817 for African-American women and $23,298 for Hispanic women every year. Closing the wage gap is, therefore, particularly important for African-American and Hispanic women, who are already more likely to have lower incomes and to be in poverty than any other group.  This fact sheet explores the wage gap for women of color and the particular effect the gap has one them and their families.

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Fact Sheet | How the Paycheck Fairness Act Will Strengthen the Equal Pay Act

May 7, 2012

The Equal Pay Act (EPA) of 1963 made it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who perform substantially equal work.  Yet today, women earn only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men.  The Paycheck Fairness Act would update and strengthen the EPA by improving rememdies for pay discrimination, prohibiting employer retaliation, and facilitating class action suits in equal pay claims, among other strategies.

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