Published: April 22, 2008 12:36 am            

Significant wage disparities remain since passage of Equal Pay Act

Today is Equal Pay Day. Pay equity is a major issue for Indiana’s working women. BPW/USA is committed to working toward closing the wage gap between women’s and men’s earnings.

While improvements have been made toward correcting the wage gap since passage of the Equal Pay Act, significant wage disparities still remain.

It has been found by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research that women workers in their prime earnings ages between 26 and 59 make only 38 percent of what men earn if part-time work and years out of the work force because of family care are taken into account.

Here are some facts on Pay Equity:

1. According to the 2005 Census Bureau, on average, full-time working women earned 77 cents to every dollar earned by men.

Black women earned 66 cents and Hispanic women earned 54 cents to every dollar earned by men.

2. In 2003, median income for full-time working women 15 and older was $30,724 compared with $40,668 by men. The median earnings for black women was $26,989, and the median income for Hispanic women was $22,363.

3. In 2002, the Government Accountability Office found that women managers consistently made less than their male counterparts, and in seven of the 10 management positions in different industries, the pay gap had increased between 1995 and 2000.

4. Wage disparity persists across all educational levels.

5. It persists across all states. Washington, D.C. has the smallest wage gap with women earning 92 percent of what men earn, while Wyoming has the average woman making only 66 percent of what was earned by the average male.

6. It also grows as women get older. From ages 19 to 24, women earn 94 percent of what their male counterparts earned, but full-time working women ages 46 to 64 make only 68 percent of what men earn.

Ultimately, women in the work force will receive $8,000 less annually in retirement income than their male counterparts.

7. If the wage gap was eliminated, annual family incomes would increase by $4,000 and cut the poverty rate in half.

The wage gap is the result of a variety of forms of sex discrimination in the workplace, including discrimination in hiring, promotion and pay, sexual harassment, occupational segregation, bias against mothers, and other ways in which women workers and women’s work are undervalued.

Top 10 reasons for the wage gap:

1. Wage secrecy hurts women.

2. Suing is not a practical remedy.

3. When you take home less, you’ll stay home more.

4. Even if they’re equal in value, women’s jobs pay less.

5. Market forces are not eliminating discrimination.

6. Discrimination is intangible, but it’s there.

7. Old stereotypes die hard.

8. Not all jobs are open to women.

9. Companies fail to address unfair or haphazard pay practices.

10. Current laws are not strong enough.

There is a positive economic impact of having pay equity.

If discrimination in Indiana was eliminated, many social issues would be also, and retirement incomes would rise. There would be less debt, fewer foreclosures, better educated people, healthier people and fewer children living in poverty.

Having Equal Pay Day in April is symbolic of the point into the next year that a woman must work to earn the wages paid to a man in the previous year.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.