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Equal Pay Day

Posted April 12th, 2016 at 3:04 pm (UTC-4)
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Equal pay for equal work. Sounds like a no-brainer policy. But Congress’ Joint Economic Committee estimates women earn 79-cents for every dollar a man makes. While that’s an improvement from the 59-cents to the dollar women made when the Equal Pay Act was passed 53 years ago, the committee’s estimates it will be another 43 years before women’s pay catch up to men’s. April 12 is deemed Equal Pay Day because it’s when women’s 2015 pay catches up to men’s 2015 pay. Earlier this month, several members of the U.S. women’s national soccer team filed a wage-discrimination suit, claiming they were paid a quarter of what the men were paid despite generating $20-million more than the men — and enjoying more success on the pitch. President Obama marked Equal Pay Day by declaring a new national monument – the Sewall-Belmont House – which has been the headquarters for the National Women’s Party since 1929. #EqualPayDay has been the most trending topic on Twitter. While the numbers are what they are, interpreting the numbers is subject to political parsing.