| |
|
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
|
|
 Guest Commentary
April 14, 2001
|
Pay Discrimination Costs Families $200 Billion Annually
The Honorable Edward Kennedy
|
Yesterday, Equal Pay Day, marked the day this year when women's median earnings for 2000 and 2001 to date, catch up with what men earned last year.
It is disgraceful that hard-working women and people of color are still battling wage disparities and pay discrimination on the job. There is a wealth of evidence that shows that the wage gap still continues to plague American families, and that wage discrimination continues to be a serious and pervasive problem in workplaces across the country. In spite of the progress we have made, women still earn only 76 cents for every dollar earned by men. African American women earn just 64 cents, and Latinos earn only 54 cents for every dollar earned by white men.
Free Newsletter Get the scoop on important legislation, Congressional action, election updates, hard-hitting political commentary, the latest developments in the War on Terror...and more! Just enter your email address below.
Privacy: Your name and email address will be confidential - never rented, never sold.
|
I have long supported the Equal Pay Act, which was signed into law 37 years ago by President Kennedy, and believe that the wage gap in the United States is unconscionable. Women and people of color should not be treated as second class citizens when it comes to pay. ...
These pay disparities translate into large costs in lost wages and lost opportunity. The average working woman loses $4,200 in earnings annually, and suffers a loss of $420,000 over her career. This gender gap has a long-term impact, since lower wages and lower lifetime earnings lead to lower pension benefits in retirement. The median pension benefit received by new female retirees is less than half that of the benefits received by men.
While some critics argue that the differences in pay are based on different levels of education, years in the workforce, occupational differences and similar factors, these factors alone do not explain away the wage gap. Studies have found substantial pay differences between men and women even when these factors are held constant. In fact, women now surpass men in the percentage of those earning a college or advanced degree, but college-educated women working full-time earn almost $28,000 less annually than college-educated men. An African American woman with a master's degree earns $29,000 less annually than a college-educated white male. An Hispanic female with a bachelor's degree makes only $872 more than a white male with only a high school degree.
Pay discrimination is not just a women's problem, it's a family problem. The wage gap costs America's families $200 billion a year. Nearly two-thirds of working women report that they provide half or more of their family income. In addition, nearly one in five U.S. families is headed by a single woman, yet these women continue to earn the lowest average rate of pay. Women are entitled to the same paychecks as their male colleagues who are performing the same or comparable work. Without pay equality, women are less able to provide an economic safety net for themselves and their families.
If married women were paid fairly, their family incomes would rise by nearly six percent, and their families' poverty rates would fall from 2.1 percent to 0.8 percent. If single working mothers were paid fairly, their incomes would rise by 17 percent, and their poverty rates would be reduced from 25.3 percent to 12.6 percent. These figures demonstrate the staggering effects of these unfair pay disparities on the lives of women and their families.
The equal pay provisions of the Democratic leadership bill would toughen the Equal Pay Act by providing more effective remedies for women denied equal pay for equal work, allowing prevailing plaintiffs to recover compensatory and punitive damages. It also eliminates loopholes that employers use to evade the law, authorizes additional training for enforcement agencies to better handle wage disputes, and provides for the study of pay dynamics in the U.S. labor market to better understand the pay inequity problem. Finally, the bill forbids employers from prohibiting employees from disclosing their wages to co-workers, thereby making it easier for workers to evaluate whether their rights are being violated.
Congress should pass these equal pay provisions. It is unacceptable for women and people of color to work hard and yet be denied fair compensation. These disparities are particularly alarming, because they persist 37 years after the Equal Pay Act was first enacted and at a time when our nation has been enjoying unprecedented prosperity. It's the right thing to do, and the fair thing to do, for working families.
|
|
|
Edward Kennedy, a Democrat, is a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. The above commentary has been adapted from a speech Sen. Kennedy delivered on the floor of the Senate, April 4, 2001. To contact him, Click Here.
The above column has been distributed by PoliticsOL.com.
|
Add FREE Content to Your Website in Less Than 5 Minutes!
Add the above article to your website!
Add other content from PoliticsOL.com!
Learn how to syndicate your own content!
|
|
|
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
