The Equal Pay Act was a crucial first step, but it had major structural limitations that kept the wage gap from narrowing for more than a decade. Following its passage, the median annual gender wage gap for full-time, year-round workers stubbornly hovered around 59% to 60% until the late 1970s. /7
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 further protected workers by establishing that each discriminatory paycheck resets the time limit to file a claim. Today, women earn about 81 to 85 cents for every dollar men earn, showing progress since 1963, though the gender wage gap persists. /end
The EPA originally excluded most white-collar positions, a gap fixed by the Education Amendments of 1972. Furthermore, it only mandated equal pay for women who already had a job. It did not stop companies from refusing to hire women or refusing to promote them into higher-paying roles. /8
The 59-cent average does not reflect the reality for women of color, who faced both racial and gender discrimination. In the early 1960s, most employers banned the hiring of Black women for clerical or office jobs, locking them in domestic service roles that were excluded from labor protections. /4
Employers justified the disparity by arguing that men were the heads of households and needed to support a family. Employers argued that women were only earning “pocket change,” and that women were more expensive to employ than men due to the perceived risk of higher turnover and absenteeism. /3
In October 1963, the commission released its report, proving discrimination in wages, hiring and promotions. The findings shocked the public by showing how women were systematically barred from higher-paying jobs, lacked paid maternity leave and affordable childcare, and faced legal inequality. /6
In 1961, JFK established the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women, with Eleanor Roosevelt as its chair. His objective was to appease feminists pushing for equal pay, while balancing pressure from women who feared an Equal Rights Amendment might erase state-level labor protections. /5
This fish is called "Dango-uo" in Japanese (ダンゴウオ). The scientific name is "Lethotremus awae". It lives in the cold waters of Japan and it's a cute fish.
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At that time, women earned an average of just 59 cents for every dollar earned by men. The wage gap was driven by two types of discrimination. Women earned about 19% less than men working the same job at the same company. The remaining portion of the 41-cent gap was caused by systemic barriers. /2
#ResistanceRoots
Today in history, 1963. JFK signs the Equal Pay Act into law as an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act. The law mandates equal pay for equal work, establishing that men and women in the same workplace must receive the same compensation for substantially identical jobs. /1
