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The Wage Gap: Where have we been, where are we now and where
are we going?
By:
Ms. MoneyGrrl
Last
month a co-worker of mine sat down in my office and spouted "I
think I've been a victim of the wage gap!!" "The wage gap" I said
and she shouted back "yes the wage gap!!!".
Ohh,
yes, the glorious wage gap (I know it too well) in which women
are punished for being single or being married, for being mothers
or not being mothers, for not being men, for being lesbians or
just being women. Yes, this dyke did say the Wage Gap and it affects
all women! I can see status quo lovers all over the nation holding
their breath and praying that those two little words will not
invoke Third Wave Feminism. Well, status quo lovers, too late!
Wage
Gap WAGE GAP WAGE GAP!!!!
Third
wave feminism is not only here, but it is going to recruit the
younger generation including my co-worker who was persecuted at
her last job for being single and living at home.
So,
where have we been?
In
1966, the year the National Organization for Women was founded,
women were making 58 cents to every dollar a man was making.
To
understand the complete impact of the Wage Gap, we have to take
a look at where we were thirty plus years ago.
In
1963, The Equal Pay Act was passed prohibiting unequal pay for
equal or "substantially equal" work performed by men and women.
In
1964, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed prohibiting
wage discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion,
national origin or disability.
Did
these laws eliminate the wage gap? No way! One of the problems
still plaguing us today is that the laws are not only poorly enforced,
but cases are hard to prove and even harder to win. Also, the
laws do not guarantee equality of pay for work involving similar
levels of skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions.
Additional
problems can be traced to the management values of many companies.
Many continue to believe that men are the breadwinners and should
therefore earn more. Many justify lower wages for young women
because they assume them to be single, fresh out of college, and
living at home. I was the victim of that one, believe it or not!
Single mothers are often paid less because they must be receiving
child support! They need to check out the statistics on child
support payment! Whoever assumed that one earns the definition
of assumption -making an ass out of you and me!
continued
on page 2
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