Should the Senate Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act? >
Paycheck Fairness Act Is Sorely Needed
We must seize every opportunity along the way to advance equal pay for women
May 4, 2012
About Deborah J. Vagins:
Deborah J. Vagins is senior legislative counsel for the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office and co-chair of the National Paycheck Fairness Coalition.
Today, women are more likely than ever to be their family's breadwinners, in management positions, and hold advanced degrees. Yet some critics are re-litigating decades-old policy debates, which secured basic rights for women's autonomy, including pay equity.
The Equal Pay Act of 1963, which helped to secure workplace protections for wage discrimination, passed almost 50 years ago. Despite new debates to the contrary, there is no doubt that updates to improve our fair pay laws are needed. Half a century later, women, on average, earn only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men—just 17 cents more than when President Kennedy signed the law. For women of color, the progress has been even slower.
[See the latest political cartoons.]
The Paycheck Fairness Act would enable President Kennedy's vision to be fully realized. Among other things, the bill would amend the Equal Pay Act to require employers to demonstrate that disparities in pay between men and women working the same job result from factors other than sex. It would also prohibit retaliation against employees who inquire about their employers' wage practices or disclose their own pay and would strengthen penalties for equal pay violations.
In the 111th Congress, the bill passed overwhelmingly, and on a bipartisan basis, in the House of Representatives. In spite of support from a majority of senators, it fell just two votes short of moving forward in the Senate. If Congress cannot pass the Paycheck Fairness Act this year, women will once again be left waiting.
Fortunately, the Obama administration can help right now, by signing an executive order that would protect people who work for federal contractors against retaliation for disclosing or inquiring about their wages. Punitive pay secrecy policies—which the Paycheck Fairness Act would address—are a serious problem. If you don't know you are being paid less, there is nothing you can do about it.
[Read Women May Have Tougher Time Paying Student Loan Debt Due to Gender Pay Gap.]
According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, nearly half of American workers are forbidden or strongly discouraged from discussing their pay with colleagues—in other words, you can be fired for asking about your own wages. By issuing an executive order, President Obama could ensure that never happens to the 26 million workers who are employed by federal contractors—that's over 20 percent of the U.S. workforce.
The Paycheck Fairness Act is still sorely needed, especially during these difficult economic times. As we continue to press for the bill's passage, we must seize every opportunity along the way to advance equal pay for women.
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- Other Arguments
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#1303114
No — The proposed act would create havoc in an already precarious job market
CHRISTINA HOFF SOMMERS, Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute
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#2195104
No — For women's sake, we need more hiring, not more red tape
DIANA FURCHTGOTT-ROTH, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
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#318696
No — The bill reinforces the idea that women are a victim class in need of special government protection
SABRINA L. SCHAEFFER, Executive Director of the Independent Women's Forum
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#4178104
No — The gap in pay arises because of individual choice, not because of discrimination
PENNY NANCE, President and CEO of Concerned Women for America
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#5168197
Yes — The Paycheck Fairness Act would give women additional and much-needed equal pay protections
SARAH JANE GLYNN, Policy Analyst at the Center for American Progress
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#790170
Yes — Equal pay for women is critical to families' economic security and our nation's economic recovery
DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Chair of the Democratic National Committee
