do you know what today (june 10th) is?

it's the 45th anniversary of the equal pay act. what is the equal pay act? it is a law that says an employer has to pay ME the same wage as a man who does the same work. it doesn't though. i, on average earn only 77 cents to each dollar a man earns.


CONGRESS MUST ACT TO CLOSE THE WAGE GAP FOR WOMEN
More than forty years ago, President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act (EPA)1 into law, making it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who perform substantially equal work. The following year, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted, making it illegal to discriminate, including in wages and pay, on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, and national origin. At the time of the EPA’s passage in 1963, women earned merely 59 cents to every dollar earned by men.2 Although enforcement of the EPA as well as other civil rights laws has helped to narrow the wage gap, significant disparities remain and need to be addressed.
In addition, the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. severely limited workers’ ability to vindicate their rights under federal anti-discrimination laws. To reverse the Supreme Court’s harmful decision, in 2007 the House of Representatives passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Lead sponsor Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) has introduced this act in the Senate. To further strengthen current laws against wage discrimination and require the federal government to be more proactive in preventing and battling wage discrimination, lead sponsors Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) have introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act.3 Similarly, lead sponsors Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) have introduced the Fair Pay Act to ensure equal pay to those with comparable jobs. Strengthening of equal pay laws is critical to help realize the decades-old promise of equal pay for equal work.
The Gender Wage Gap Persists
The wage disparities are of particular concern in light of the present state of the economy. The majority of Americans say that they are worried about the economy and 85 percent believe the economy is getting worse.4 Women are feeling particularly anxious about the economy (67 percent), and their concern is well-justified.5 Although the general population has suffered because of the economic downturn, women have had a greater loss of jobs and a greater loss in wages than men during this period.6
■ Women working full-time, year-round earn only about 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, virtually the same amount women earned in 2005. In 2006, the median annual earnings of women ages 15 and older working full-time, year-round were $32,515, compared to $42,261 for their male counterparts.7.............................