Tomorrow,April 24, is Equal Pay Day, the annual symbolic day on which women's average wages catch up to men's from the previous yearand a new American Association of University Women (AAUW) Educational Foundation report, Behind the Pay Gap, is being released. The report shows that, just one year out of college, women working full time earn only 80 percent of what their male counterparts earn even when they work in the same field. Ten years after graduation, the gap widens, with women earning only 69 percent of men’s wages with less authority in the workplace compared to their male counterparts. The report is being released on
Even after controlling for hours, occupation, parenthood, and other factors known to affect earnings, the new AAUW research indicates that one-quarter of the pay gap remains unexplained and is likely due to sex discrimination. This disparity is disturbing more than 40 years after passage of the Equal Pay Act.
Pay equity is essential to the long-term economic security of women and our families. Pay disparities affect women of all ages, races, and education levels–regardless of their family decisions. A lifetime of lower wages means women have less income for their families today and less savings for retirement tomorrow.
According to another AAUW Educational Foundation report, Gains in Learning, Gaps in Earnings, with college-educated women in Texas earning 71% of college-educated men's earnings, Texas is ranked 38th in the country for the size of its pay gap college educated workers.
I believe that equal pay for equal work is a simple matter of justice for women. The members of our state’s Congressional delegation should support legislation such as the Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act to close loopholes in current equal pay laws and help close the gender wage gap. As Equal Pay Day and the AAUW Educational Foundation report remind us, equity is still an issue.
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