There is still a pay gap between women and men

Today is the 15th anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Jan. 29. Women in Assembly District 75 have the lived experience of pay that is unequal to their male counterparts.

The Biden administration is taking steps to close the wage gap for federal employees by eliminating the use of salary history for new federal employees.

Relying on salary history assumes that prior salaries were fairly established in the first place.

As a result of the federal government’s pay equity practices the gender wage gap is already consistently lower in the federal government than in the private sector. But we need to do more.

Women working full-time still only earn 84 cents for every dollar paid to men in the United States – and the pay gap is even wider for Black women, Latinas and Native women. These pay gaps add up to millions of dollars lost over the course of a lifetime.

It is why we still need the Paycheck Fairness Act, which will close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act, and enhance the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act protections.

Joy Frew