equal
pay
The equal pay movement for women advocated (and continues to advocate) for the elimination of the gender pay gap, striving to ensure that women are paid the same as men for performing the same work. Despite progress, challenges remain in achieving full pay equity, as women, particularly women of color, continue to earn less than men in many industries and roles. The movement seeks not only legal reforms but also cultural and systemic changes to address underlying biases and discrimination.
"Gender Pay Gap Hurts More Than Your Paycheck," CNBC
overview
According to a study done a few years ago about national pay gap statistics, a fictional American woman would need to work until about April 14, 2015, just to earn the same amount that a man in the same job would have earned in 2014. The gender pay gap concerns women and men working in different industries and different jobs, with female-dominated industries and jobs attracting lower wages, and a lack of workplace flexibility to accommodate caring and other responsibilities, especially in senior roles.
beginnings
In February 1869, a letter to the New York Times asked why women working for the government were paid less than men. The letter said, “It’s easy to say that equal work should get equal pay, no matter if you’re a man or a woman. But just saying it isn’t the same as actually doing it.” The letter pointed out that 500 women worked in the U.S. Treasury Department, but they were paid only half as much as the men doing the same job:
“Many of these women are now performing the same grade of work at $900 per annum for which men receive $1800. Most of them, too, have families to support; being nearly all either widow or orphans made by the war.”
That same year, a resolution to make sure everyone—male and female—got equal pay for the same work passed the House of Representatives with nearly 100 votes. But by the time it went through the Senate in 1870, the law was weakened.
In 1883, workers at the Western Union Telegraph Company went on strike, demanding “equal pay for equal work” among other things. Although the strike wasn’t successful, it was one of the first major public calls for fair pay for women.
By 1911, there had been some big improvements. In New York, female teachers finally got the same pay as their male colleagues after a long and tough fight with the Board of Education.
During World War I, many women took on jobs that men usually did. The National War Labor Board decided that women should be paid the same as men for these jobs. They said, "If women are doing the same work as men, they must be paid the same." This idea was also put into practice during World War II, when many women worked in factories making weapons and airplanes. Unions and even male workers supported equal pay for women, though not just because they wanted to be fair. They were worried that if women were paid less, companies might try to lower men's wages once they returned from the war.
After the war, the push for equal pay slowed down a bit. In 1947, Secretary of Labor Lewis Schwellenbach tried to pass a law that would require equal pay in private jobs. He argued, "A woman spends the same money on food and rent as any man. So, she should be paid the same." But after the war, there were many veterans who needed jobs, and society expected women to stay at home more. Because of these pressures, Schwellenbach’s effort to pass the law didn’t succeed.
Equal Pay Act
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was a major step toward gender equality in the workplace. It was signed into law on June 10, 1963, and made it illegal for employers to pay men and women different wages for doing the same job, if their work required the same skills and responsibilities. The law was designed to close the wage gap between men and women, who had long been paid unequally for the same work. While the act was an important milestone, it also marked the beginning of a longer struggle for fair pay, as many women continued to fight for equal pay and opportunities in the years that followed.
what is the Equal Pay Act?
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is a U.S. law that prohibits employers from paying different wages to men and women who work under similar conditions and whose jobs require the same level of skill, effort, and responsibility. It is part of the amended Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. The act was an important milestone in gender equality, though of course wage gaps by gender persist.
key takeaways
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Employers must give men and women the same pay and benefits when their jobs are substantially equal.
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When they don’t, employees can file a lawsuit and potentially receive back pay, a pay adjustment, and reimbursement of legal fees.
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Employers have four main defenses to Equal Pay Act claims; these defenses have been interpreted in different ways by different courts.
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is based on the idea that people should be paid the same for doing the same work, no matter their gender. This includes not just salary, but also things like overtime pay, bonuses, vacation time, and benefits like health insurance or expense reimbursements.
Before the law was passed, the U.S. Department of Labor did research and found that men were often paid more than women for doing the same job in certain industries. For example, some women were earning $8 to $20 less per week than men for the same office work. In today’s money, that would be about $83 to $207 less per week, or $4,260 to $10,760 less per year. Female college graduates were also paid much less than men who had the same education.
Congress passed the Equal Pay Act in May 1963, and President John F. Kennedy signed it into law on June 10. The law stated that paying men and women differently for the same work hurt workers’ pay and quality of life, caused workplace problems, and gave some businesses an unfair advantage. The law went into effect a year later for most employers.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is in charge of making sure the law is followed. The Department of Labor can inspect businesses, check records, and talk to employees to see if the law is being broken. Employers must keep records of their workers' wages, hours, and working conditions to make sure they’re following the Equal Pay Act.
understanding the Equal Pay Act
left to right: "The History of the Equal Pay Act of 1963," Payscale; "Happy 50th Birthday, Equal Pay Act: A Brief History and Future of the Gender Wage Gap," The Marginalian; "Equal Pay Act of 1963," National Park Service
benefits of the Equal Pay Act
When employers break the Equal Pay Act, employees can take legal action and may receive back pay, a raise to correct the pay gap, and help with their legal costs. There have been several important cases where workers have won lawsuits, showing how the law has helped fight pay discrimination. Here are a few examples:
In 1970, AT&T reached a settlement with the federal government, agreeing to pay $15 million in back wages, mostly to women. A second agreement in 1973 required AT&T to pay another $30 million to fix pay differences among managers, especially for women and minorities. They also had to change the way they decided workers' salaries.
In 1974, female flight attendants won a lawsuit against Northwest Airlines. They were paid less than men for the same work and had to share hotel rooms with other women during layovers, while men got their own rooms. The company had to pay back wages and interest.
In 1997, Home Depot settled a class-action lawsuit for $65 million with 25,000 women who said they had been paid unfairly, passed over for promotions, and treated poorly in hiring and job assignments. Home Depot also agreed to cover the women’s legal fees and improve how they handled employee decisions.
More recently, women have used the law to take on big companies like Goldman Sachs, Google, and Oracle. In 2022, Google agreed to pay $118 million to settle a case for over 15,000 former female employees. In 2023, Goldman Sachs paid $215 million in one of the largest gender bias settlements ever, and Oracle settled its case for $25 million after seven years of legal battles. These cases show how the Equal Pay Act can help workers fight for fair pay.
"Women are losing thousands of dollars a month due to the gender pay gap. The pandemic may have made it worse," CBS
current struggles
Even with the Equal Pay Act, the fight for equal pay for women is far from over, especially for women belonging to minority groups. Women continue to bring to light their experiences with pay discrimination, helping bring more equality to the workforce. Below are three examples that highlight strong women who have fought for their right to equal pay.
women's sports
At the 2023 Women’s World Cup, female soccer players will earn, on average, just 25 cents for every dollar that male players earned at the 2022 Men’s World Cup, according to a new CNN report.
This is an improvement, though. In 2019, women earned less than 8 cents for every dollar men made at their World Cup, based on data from FIFA and FIFPRO, the global players’ union.
Even with this progress, the gender pay gap is still a big issue at the 2023 tournament, which starts on July 20 in Australia and New Zealand.
For the first time ever, FIFA announced that $49 million of the $110 million prize pool for the Women’s World Cup will go directly to the players. This means each player will get at least $30,000 just for participating, and the winners will each receive $270,000.
The rest of the prize money will be divided among the teams' federations, which will decide how much of it, if any, will go directly to the players. FIFA also pledged to pay $42 million to help with preparations for the tournament, including payments to federations and players’ clubs.
Disney (2024)
Disney has agreed to pay $43 million to settle a lawsuit claiming that it paid female employees less than men doing the same jobs for almost ten years.
The lawsuit, which was settled in November 2024, started with a case filed in 2019 by LaRonda Rasmussen. She found out that six men with the same job title as hers were earning much more, including one man with less experience who was making $20,000 a year more than she was.
Around 9,000 women, both former and current Disney employees, joined the lawsuit.
There have been other legal victories for women in the workplace, too. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 helped protect pregnant workers, and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1991 allowed both moms and dads to take time off for family matters. However, even though women made up nearly 58% of the workforce in 2012, they were still earning only 77 cents for every dollar men made, according to the National Equal Pay Task Force. In 2009, President Obama made the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act his first piece of legislation, which restored some protections against pay discrimination that had been weakened by a 2007 Supreme Court decision, and encouraged employers to make their pay systems fairer.
Despite these efforts, progress toward equal pay is still moving slowly.
Walmart (2011)
In 2001, female employees of Walmart filed a class action lawsuit against the company in the U.S. District Court for Northern California. The lawsuit claimed that Walmart discriminated against women by denying them opportunities for advancement and training, paying them less than men for the same or similar work, placing them in lower-paying departments, and creating a sexually hostile work environment. The lawsuit also accused Wal-Mart of retaliating against women who tried to challenge the discrimination.
On December 6, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide whether the lawsuit could represent 1.5 million female employees in one large class action or whether each woman would have to file separately. This case was the largest employment class-action lawsuit in U.S. history, and it was argued before the Supreme Court on March 29, 2011.
Despite the strong support of organizations like the American Association of University Women (AAUW), which provided financial help, signed an amicus brief, and even co-led rallies in support of the women, the Supreme Court's decision on June 20, 2011, was a setback. In a 5-4 ruling, the Court decided that the class action could not move forward as one group. Instead, each woman would need to file her own claim or be part of smaller class actions in specific regions.
Although this ruling didn’t determine if Walmart was guilty of discrimination, it had a significant impact on future workplace discrimination cases, especially regarding class-action lawsuits. AAUW emphasized that class actions are a powerful tool for holding employers accountable for unfair practices and ensuring that workers have the opportunity to stand together.
After the decision, the lawyers representing the women vowed to continue pursuing justice by breaking the lawsuit into smaller groups by region. In November 2011, they filed a new class action in Northern California, focusing on over 90,000 women who were or had been employed at Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in California and nearby states. Betty Dukes, the lead plaintiff in the original case, continued to lead this new lawsuit.
These are just a few examples. Women continue to fight for equal pay across numerous industries, companies, and occupations.
"Equal Pay for Equal Work," On History
interesting facts
Take a look at these facts about women's pay equality, courtesy of the National Organization for Women (NOW).
facts about pay equity
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According to the Shriver Report released in 2014, women’s average annual paychecks reflected only 77 cents for every $1.00 earned by men. Specifically for women of color, the gap is even wider: In comparison to a white, non-Hispanic man’s dollar, African American women earn only 64 cents and Latinas just 55 cents.
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Pay equity varies by location. In Washington, DC, women average 90 cents to every man’s dollar, partly due to transparency in government wages. Ironically, the “Equality State” is the worst, with women in Wyoming earning just 64 percent of what their male counterparts make.
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In 1963, when the Equal Pay Act was passed, full-time working women were paid 59 cents on average for every dollar paid to men. This means it took 44 years for the wage gap to close just 18 cents — a rate of less than half a penny a year. This narrowing of the gap has slowed substantially since the turn of the century.
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Women’s median pay was only equal in personal care and service work as of 2009. According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics study from 2009, construction was the industry closest to gender pay equity. Even men working in the 20 most common occupations for women earn more than women working in those same occupations.
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According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), if equal pay for women were instituted immediately, across the board, it would result in an annual $447.6 billion gain nationally for women and their families. Over fifteen years, a typical woman loses $499,101 due to pay inequity.
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When The WAGE Project looked exclusively at full-time workers, they estimated that women with a high school diploma lose as much as $700,000 over a lifetime of work, women with a college degree lose $1.2 million and professional school graduates may lose up to $2 million. Not only are these inequities enormously detrimental to women and their families, wage inequities follow women into their retirement years, reducing their Social Security benefits, pensions, savings and other financial resources.
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A study by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) examined how the wage gap affects college graduates. Wage disparities kick in shortly after college graduation, when women and men should, absent discrimination, be on a level playing field. One year after graduating college, women are paid on average only 82 percent of their male counterparts’ wages, and during the next 10 years, women’s wages fall even further behind, dropping to only 69 percent of men’s earnings ten years after college. According to the AAUW report, “even after researchers controlled for age, education, hours worked beyond full time, industry sector, marital status, and presence of children in the household, female managers still earned just 81 percent of what male managers did, leaving an unexplained 19 percent pay gap,” and later observed, “women continue to earn less than men do, even when they make the same choices.”
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Women still are segregated into “pink-collar” jobs that affect their wages, according to an AAUW report. Based on their analysis of Department of Education data, 40 percent of women work in historically female occupations like social work, teaching and nursing, but only five percent of men were employed in these fields as of 2013. Even women studying in STEM fields are relegated to the typing pool. Female science and business majors are twice as likely as men in the same fields to find jobs in clerical work. Men get into management instead.
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A far greater proportion of women cut back or interrupt time in the paid workforce to deal with family responsibilities. 15 years after graduating college, male business school graduates of the University of Chicago were making 75 percent more than female graduates–unless those women had no children and rarely took time off.
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Time out of the workforce can directly impact women’s earning potential. Often mothers returning to the workforce experience a ”motherhood penalty.” Employers are less likely to hire moms. If mothers are hired, they tend to be paid less than childless women, a pay cut worth more than their time outside the workforce. Fathers are not punished compared to other men.
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It is important to note that women’s choices regarding work are not made in a vacuum. Factors that impact women’s decisions include: workplace discrimination, either experienced or anticipated; a lack of women-friendly policies and resources in the workplace; persistent stereotypes that steer women and men toward different education, training and career paths; different societal expectations for wives compared to husbands and mothers compared to fathers; and myriad forms of sexism, both subtle and blatant.
