Equal Pay for Equal Work

The wage gap has narrowed slowly since 1980, when women's earnings were only 60% of men's; the 2000 figure has women earning about 75% as much as working men. But the Equal Pay Act likely has little to do with it.

The law's biggest weaknessis that it is strictly applied only when men and women are doing the same work. Since women have historically been banned from many types of work and had only limited entree to managerial positions, the Equal Pay Act in reality affects very few women. 

Local governments are conducting studies that show this is a local problem, and after an initial review, your city could be a national leader by passing a local ordinance for city workers stricter than federal standards. If interested, you can contact ALICE for model language.  To see our state information,  click here.

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