As an undergraduate I have plenty of trepidation about my future in the job market. Will I be able to get a good job? Will I be able to strike a healthy balance between work and life? Will I feel good about what I do? Managing a career is complicated enough without the specter of unequal pay. But the reality is that women in the United States still earn only 77 cents of their male counterparts' dollar. When you break the statistics down by race the gap is even more stark. African-American women earn 63 cents to the white male dollar, and Latino women 52 cents. The job market is scary enough without these gross inequities and it's high time that something is done about it.
Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber was a major setback in workplace equality, the decision stated that a person could not challenge pay discrimination if it has been going on for more than 180 days. Since victims of unequal pay rarely find out that they are being payed less until years after the discrimination has begun, the decision was illogical and downright negligent. Happily the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act may reverse this decision. The Act would ensure that the law could be interpreted so that every unequal paycheck is an act of discrimination and workers have time to protest unfair treatment. Contact your Senators to urge them to vote yes on the Act and find out more about wage inequity here.
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