The most current United Nations report finds that on average women earn 24 percent less than men or 76 cents for every dollar earned by a man. The pay gap ranges from 33 percent in South Asia to 14 percent in the Middle East and North Africa.
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The average median annual pay for a woman working full time in Alabama is $32,136, according to the report. Townsend says it’s more common for women than men to step out of the workforce to care for new babies and aging parents.
“A couple of years ago is was 77 cents”, she says.
The report, which looked at wage gaps in each state, noted the gap in pay persists regardless of industry. States around the country are introducing pay equity legislation and women continue to recognize the importance of this legislation.
Legislation prefiled in the House before the start of the 2015 session would make it illegal for a state agency to “discriminate against an employee on the basis of gender” by paying a woman less than a man for the same work. Isadore Hall would build on California’s existing fair pay law by adding “race or ethnicity” to the requirement that employers justify any pay discrepancies between men and women who do “substantially similar” work. They are paid about 83 cents on the dollar compared to men. In 1960 the pay gap was 60 cents for every dollar a man earned, but just how far have we come? In Montgomery and Greene counties, the difference is $48,774 for men and $37,321 for women. The National Partnership for Women and Families has its eye on federal policy, like the Paycheck Fairness Act that’s before Congress. That would increase penalties for employers who discriminate on the basis of gender. For these women, it is extremely hard to ever catch up in pay because employers will use their reduced prior salaries to try and get a bargain.
First, the public and private sectors need to keep affirmative action programs in place to make sure education, jobs and promotion opportunities are open and offered to qualified women.
These numbers are unacceptable, which is why Gov. Steve Bullock created the Equal Pay for Equal Work Task Force in 2013.
The awareness-raising day has been observed for two decades to mark how long women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year.
“Women, we must stand together and demand pay equity”. Yet for her experience level and education, most engineers are paid about double that, she said.
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Women in Florida lose almost $17 billion every year, which is money that could strengthen the state economy and the financial security of Florida’s women and families, including the almost 960,000 Florida households headed by women, the group said.
