Equal Pay for Equal Work, (Part 5)

Fifty years ago, job listings in the newspaper were categorized by gender, and those that paid best were found under the headline “Help Wanted — Male.” In the 1960s, women elevated job segregation and pay discrimination into national civil rights issues, leading to the passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963. This federal law was the result of relentless documentation, consciousness raising and agitation by women, many of whom were determined to regain economic ground lost by the displacement of millions of “Rosie the Riveters” from good jobs following the end of World War II.

But the Equal Pay Act quickly proved insufficient. Employers continued to pay women less than men to perform equivalent work. Emboldened by the women’s movement, women from many different employment sectors filed 50,000 complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. When the agency failed to respond, a group of 28 women came together to form a new organization to work to persuade government and business leaders to prioritize economic justice for women — the National Organization for Women (NOW).

In addition to vast improvements in equal pay for equal work, women have gradually but consistently increased their overall earnings relative to men’s. Over the past 30 years, women’s earning power has risen with their overall gains in education and inroads into trades and professions traditionally dominated by men. The wage gap between women and men was 59 cents for every dollar in 1963, and 77 cents by 2002.

In California, women’s wages are now 80 percent of men’s. Women advocates, policymakers, scholars and grassroots organizers are at the forefront of new organizations, coalitions and movements that are advancing a vision of economic equity that reaches far beyond gender parity. Regional equity, for example, is an integrated approach to economic development that calls for linking economic development with public transportation planning, affordable housing, environmental sustainability and meaningful participation by local community leaders in decision making. The goal is to ensure that growth and justice go hand in hand, a “double bottom line” solidified by community organizing that ensures accountability. LA Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), a grant partner of the Women’s Foundation of California, is among 11 organizations pioneering regional equity strategies.