Why give equal pay when she doesn’t need the money

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same but not equal

Today is the day we acknowledge the failure to reach income parity with men by calling attention to Equal Pay Day. At the current rate since the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963, it will take until 40 more years before women match their male counterparts.  

Yes, I know it doesn’t make sense if you’ve had a law since 1963. But, there are a number of things that don’t make sense when it comes to allowing women to earn comparable salaries.  

Here’s a simple list: 

  • On average full time working women earn a median salary difference of $10, 784 less than men  
  • It takes women 4.5 more months to earn what men earned in 2011  
  • Opening sharing of salary information, especially by women continues to have retaliatory effects despite the signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009  
  • In 2010, two votes kept The Paycheck Fairness Act from moving on to a Senate vote  
  • It’s just not Federal action but also state laws and policies that perpetuate a gender wage gap  

Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker just singed into law a repeal of the 2009 Equal Pay Enforcement Act. Wisconsin had been one of 44 states allowing for Court redress of “workplace discrimination” which included salaries.  

The National Partnership for Women & Families profiled various states and how the gender wage gap would affect women. The cost to women in Wisconsin without equal parity would be a loss of 14 additional months of rent.  

I guess Governor Walker just can’t imagine how hard the women of Wisconsin will have to work to make up for 14 months of rent, and neither can Wisconsin State Senator Glenn Grothman, described as a major force behind the repeal. His reported claim to fame is stating that “… money is more important to men than to women.”  

Now that’s an explanation I guess only makes sense to men, because women sure can’t make sense of it. Is there a male out there who can explain it to us, because we sure don’t want to wait 40 years to catch up?  

[Full disclosure: I’m originally from Wisconsin and I’m appalled!]  

Source:Today, Women Need To Demand Equal Pay, Jenna Goudreau, Forbes Staff http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2012/04/17/today-women-need-to-demand-equal-pay/