Paycheck Fairness Act

To flip an old phrase, the political is personal. And as a young woman in the beginning of my professional life, the Paycheck Fairness Act is very personal.

For those of you who don’t know, the Paycheck Fairness Act is a bill that would strengthen the Equal Pay Act by prohibiting employers from retaliating against employees for sharing information about their wages, improving data collection and enforcement by government agencies, closing loopholes that courts have opened in the law, and making it easier for employees to come together as a group to challenge discriminatory pay policies.

Apologies if that sounds wonky, but I promise you, these policy changes can have personal impact. Check out the wage gap in your home state (I hope you’ve had the chance to look at our beautiful state by state fact sheets on the wage gap). These female cents on the male dollar figures - 77 cents nationally, 76 cents in my home state of Illinois, 91 cents in Washington, DC - aren’t just arbitrary numbers. They translate into real money that never finds its way into your bank account simply because of your gender.

Did you know that a typical woman loses out on $431,000 in earnings over a forty-year period? That’s less money to pay back student loans, buy a house or car, send children to college, save for retirement, go on vacation, contribute to charity, or simply buy Ben and Jerry’s when it’s not on sale! Read more »

When I heard Alex Castellanos on “Meet the Press” contend that the wage gap is a myth a few weeks back, I choked on my green tea.

Data show that it persists across nearly all demographics and sectors of society. And equal pay for equal work seems like a non-partisan issue of fairness to me. But Castellanos wants to wave a wand and make those facts disappear.

Compared to my friends graduating this year, I feel pretty lucky that I have another two years before I enter the full-time job market. Bleak statistics on job placement for recent grads has me anxious about my future. Top that off with my soon-to-increase student loan rate (you’re welcome millionaires, enjoy your continued tax breaks) and my hope to continue my education beyond undergrad and my financial security is, well, nonexistent. Oh, and since I’m a woman, my new degree is very likely to earn me less than my male peers with the same degree starting year one, even though I’ve done everything right. Trust me, if I had a magic wand, I’d make the wage gap a thing of the past – but I don’t, and I’m worried. Read more »

There are currently two major pieces of legislation in Congress that would help close the wage gap. One is the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA), which is scheduled for a vote soon. The PFA would strengthen current laws against wage discrimination by protecting employees who voluntarily share pay information with colleagues from retaliation, fully compensating victims of sex-based pay discrimination, empowering women and girls by strengthening their negotiation skills, and holding employers more accountable under the Equal Pay Act. The other is one that you might not think of: the Rebuild America Act, which would raise the federal minimum wage from just $7.25 per hour to $9.80 per hour, giving a raise to millions of women workers.

Each year, millions of workers struggle to make ends meet on minimum wage earnings. Roughly two-thirds of these workers are women. They provide care for children and elders, clean homes and offices, and wait tables. Read more »

Yesterday's afternoon press conference at the Senate called for bi-partisan support of the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA), a bill designed to close loopholes that perpetuate wage discrimination. While any worker regardless of gender would benefit from this bill, PFA would be a significant step toward equal pay for women. As lead sponsor Senator Mikulski (D-MD) explained at the press conference, PFA is the next step after the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to closing the wage gap for women. While Ledbetter is an essential remedy to help people who find out that they are being discriminated against seek justice, PFA, Mikulski stated, "Closes loopholes that allow pay discrimination in the first place."

PFA would improve remedies for pay discrimination, prohibit employer retaliation, and facilitate class action suits in equal pay claims.

Pretty simple logic, it'd be tough to learn about wage discrimination if discussing wages can be grounds for termination.

The PFA is making its second recent appearance in Congress, after the Senate failed to move it forward last year but two votes.

Fatima Goss Graves, NWLC Vice President for Education and Employment, spoke at the conference in support of PFA and explained how PFA remedies current loopholes and constraints in equal pay law. Read more »

It's go time!

The Vote is Coming — Call Today!

We need your help to call on the Senate to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Dial 1-888-876-9527 Today!

For the next 48 hours, the National Women's Law Center and organizations across the country are joining forces to turn up the heat on the Senate in support of equal pay. You can help: call 1-888-876-9527 today!

What's the rush?

We expect a vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act in the coming weeks and we need to make sure our Senators hear from us now. For the next 48 hours we want to jam the phones to send a clear message of support for the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Can you take two minutes of your time to call your Senators in support of the Paycheck Fairness Act?

We will make it super-easy. This is all it takes:

1. Dial 1-888-876-9527.
2. Listen to the sample script and follow the instructions for connecting to your Senator's office.
3. Don't neglect your other Senator. Call back and make sure he/she gets a call, too!
4. Double your impact by forwarding this message to a friend.

If you haven't already heard...

The Paycheck Fairness Act would deter wage discrimination by updating the nearly 50-year-old Equal Pay Act, in part by barring retaliation against workers who disclose their own wages to coworkers. Read more »

Contact Your Senators Today!

Tell your Senators to show their support for equal pay by co-sponsoring the Paycheck Fairness Act.

"Ladies, put your lipstick on, square your shoulders, and get ready to do battle. This calls for a revolution!"

That's what Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) said on the floor of the Senate during the successful fight to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. And now she needs our help for the next battle over equal pay — passing the Paycheck Fairness Act.

In the coming weeks, we expect a Senate vote on this vital legislation so we need you to contact your Senators today.

Please tell your Senators to show their support for equal pay by co-sponsoring the Paycheck Fairness Act.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would deter wage discrimination by updating the nearly 50-year-old Equal Pay Act and barring retaliation against workers who disclose their own wages to coworkers. Read more »

Spring came early this year for those of us living on the East Coast. Here in Washington D.C., one of the world’s greatest displays of springtime—the Cherry Blossom trees—peaked early, with the blossoms gone weeks before the start of the annual festival that celebrates their fleeting beauty. Unfortunately for women across the country, not all springtime traditions came early this year. Equal Pay Day—the date when a typical woman's wages catch up to those of her male counterpart from the year before—remains stuck in late April. This year we mark Equal Pay Day on April 17th.

American women still earn, on average, only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men—a disparity that has budged a scant 18 cents in 50 years. The average gap in earnings translates to $10,784 a year in lost wages, a sum that could feed a typical family of four for a year and five months, pay an average mortgage and utilities for over ten months, or cover child care costs for a year and a half. And the numbers are even bleaker for women of color. For each dollar earned by the average white male, a black woman makes just 62.3 cents, and a Hispanic woman earns a meager 54 cents. Read more »

For more about state poverty and wage numbers, please go to our overview page on the state-by-state 2010 Census data.

Just last week, the Census Bureau released data that showed no improvement in the wage gap – nationally, women who worked full time, year round were paid 23 cents less for every dollar paid to their male counterparts. This gap in earnings totals to nearly $11,000.

The wage gap for women of color was even worse. Black and Hispanic women working full time, year round were paid only 62 cents and 54 cents, respectively, for every dollar paid to their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts – no substantial differences from 2009. Read more »