Equal Pay for Women

Women continue to earn only 80 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts.  African-American and Hispanic women suffer even greater disparities.  Despite the enormous changes in women’s labor force participation and educational attainment, they still continue to be paid less than men.  When women are victimized by pay discrimination, all of society suffers.

In 2009, we scored a major victory with the enactment of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which restored protections against pay discrimination established under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  But more progress needs to be made to make equal pay a reality.  To that end, the UAW:

• Supports the Paycheck Fairness Act to update and strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963 to provide more effective remedies to combat pay discrimination against women and minorities.
• Urges Congress and state legislatures to enact pay equity legislation to address the longstanding disparities in pay between male and female dominated occupations and ensure that women receive equal pay for work of comparable value.

Learn More!

While the pay gap seems to be closing for younger women just entering the job market, they can still expect to make hundreds of thousands less over the course of a 40-year career than their male counterparts. Check out this interactive map which breaks down pay disparities by state: The Persistent Career Wage Gap.