Ning Zhang History 332 April, 21, 2015 Margaret Power Research Paper on the Equal Pay Act of 1963 America is very unique as a country especially during the prosperous times of peace, the country is frequently undergoes drastic political and social changes usually seen in other countries only in times of war such as NAZI Germany or Republic people of China. Since the revolution won the independence of America nearly 200 years ago, America has undergone change after change. The use and abolishment of slavery, the tolerance and rejection of immigration, the Homestead act and giving tracts of land and the vote to thousands of people who did not have before, are all examples of the big changes this country. These changes, although large and important in their rights, only increase, decrease, or a little redistribution of political power in the big picture of all …show more content…
Additionally, its passage also helped rectify the system of free market capitalism in America, through abolishing an ancient barrier to true merit based selection of employees. The immediate result of the elevating of women’s socio economic status, through offering them a higher wage, was increased participation in both the corporate world as professional employees and the world of higher education as students. In both positions, women held much greater access and leverage to the political system in America, through their active participation and influence in student demonstrations, political movements, and through unions and professional societies, respectively. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 should, in this context, be considered one of the most important pieces of legislation passed in the journey of women to a status of political, economic, and social equality with men in
Women’s Civil Rights has always been an issue around the world. During World War II, women began working while the men were away at war. Once the men came back, the pay wage began between men and women. According to researchers, Beth Rowen and Borgna Brunner, between 1950 and 1960, women who had worked full-time jobs only earned around 60 cents to every dollar that their male counterparts earned. It was not until June 10, 1963 that the Equal Pay Act was passed by President Kennedy making it illegal for employers to pay women less than men in the same job title. In order to further progress of pay equity, Rosa Cho from Re:Gender.org, also found that President Kennedy proposed a Civil Rights Act to prohibit
According to statistics, there are disparities with pay in the workplace. Men are paid more in wages, comprehensive packages, and benefits than women who performed the same job responsibilities and roles in the workplace. The big question is why are women being unvalued? Since, this is a common practice in the workplace, is this fair to both genders and is this the most favorable outcome for the greatest number affected by this business practice? The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was passed to eliminate this type of discrimination based on sex with paying wages to employees, in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which pays, wages to employees of the opposite sex for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions.
During the 1960’s, women represented about forty percent of America’s labor force. Women have typically received a median average wage three-fifths that of a male’s earnings. In the 1960’s, people justified paying women a lower wage using the excuse that a male’s societal role, as the main breadwinner, entitled him to a higher pay than a woman. Even if a woman and a man were performing the same job, a man would get paid higher simply because of his gender. Women began to realize the wage gender inequality, and began fighting for equal rights.
Gender equality is something that has been a problem through the ages. Susan B. Anthony and many others fought for the right to vote which was granted in 1920. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law stating that no employer can discriminate based on gender. The American Association of University Women published a graph on Women’s Median Annual Earnings as a Percentage of Men’s Median Annual Earnings for Full-time, Year-round Workers, 1974-2014 and it shows that in 1974, women were paid 59% of what men were paid. The graph shows the improvements over the years and that in 2014, women were paid 79% of what men were paid. The gap has not budged since 2014. The gender pay gap has improved over the years, but it will not close until new legislation passes.
An important federal employment law that all employees and employers should be aware of is the Equal Pay Act of 1963. As conversed in week nine of class discussion and video lecture, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 ends wage disparity based on sex. The main goal of this act was to ban discrimination in wages, benefits, and pensions based the gender of an employee in any place of employment. Women traditionally earned less than men for doing similar work. The United States has had a long history of knowledge of unequal pay between men and women, but it was not until around World War II that the problem arose and women started fighting for their rights on this issue. Women have tried passing several bills to help close this pay gap throughout the 1950’s, but ended up in failure.
The Equal Pay Act set in the United States in 1963 is a labor law removes the wage inequality between men and women. This was a law that was specifically designed so that everyone is required to be paid the same amount. If a man and a woman are both working the same job title in the same work place there should not be any difference in the amount of pay received. The creation of this law was much more important than many people realized, because women were completing the same jobs but offered less money because of their gender and not quality of their work.The sole purpose of the equal pay is give women the same ability to make a living as a male, which closes the gender pay gap and keeps women for being paid 78 cents on a dollar. This pay act helps hold the employer accountable for making sure no one is not being compensated for things in their job description. In this paper I will speaking about The EEOC Sues Checkers and the Phillips V. Marietta Corp which are two specific cases that shows how people have been discriminated against because of their gender, this highlights the importance of The Equal Pay Act and what it actually stands for.
Women have made significant strides in society, proving themselves to be as capable as men in the workforce. However, while women are making equal contributions, men and women are not earning equal wages. Even though the Equal Pay Act was established in 1963, women continue to earn lower wages than men over half a century later. This inequality not only affects women as individuals but has a detrimental effect on the national economy. The gender wage gap in the United States should end because it is unjust; correcting it would have social and economic benefits for the U.S.
The first event I find significant is the "Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting emplyment discrimination based on race, color, religon, sex, or national origin (for companies with fifteen or more employees)." because it took a stance for not just women but also people of other races, cultures, and religons. This Act gave women the ability to get more jobs outside of the home and be more independent. Women should be able to help with the income and provide for her family just as much as a man. This Act gave women that much more of an opportunity to do so.
This is topic is relevant to all of us because on June 10, 1963, Present John Kennedy signed historic, landmark legislation to guarantee equal pay for women and men who held the same job. The equal pay act changed the legal landscape for working women and laid a firm foundation for the beginning of their movement into the paid labor force. At the signing ceremony for the equal pay act on June 10, 1963, special recognition was given to women leader. But despite this whole ordeal; today in 2017 we still face this same unequal pay
One problem that Americans are facing is the inequality between men and women, whether it is in everyday life or in a professional atmosphere. One step that has been taken toward equality was introduced with the Equal Pay Act of 1963, signed by President John F. Kennedy. This law was the first affecting the amount of job opportunities available for women and allowing them to work in traditionally male dominated fields. On the outside, this would sound like a solution where nothing could possibly go wrong, but it is not.
Women are continually being overlooked for promotions and additional projects in the workplace for the same reasons. Employers assume that women with families have other obligations, so they won’t consider those women for additional responsibility. Because of this, women aren’t even given the opportunity of job advancement and the opportunity to compete with men in the workplace.
Throughout the past century, we have seen human resource management acts come to play such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that have attempted to close the gap between men and women. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was also implemented to reduce discrimination in various terms with one including gender. However, those acts have had little impact and the gap continues to this day. Of course, measures could be taken to prevent this such as women negotiating for higher pay, but women oftentimes don’t want to seem pushy therefore not negotiating for equal pay. Additionally, for those women who are younger and have children, organizations could offer these individuals an amount of money to attend college while also working for that company. Moreover, the organization would benefit from this act in terms of reducing the amount of discrimination lawsuits. However, organizations may suffer as a result of this act as they would have no differentiation between people of more education, training and even more experience than those who do not. Correspondingly, the organization may not be able to compete with others for particular candidates based on the fact of equal pay. On the other side of the spectrum, we as individuals of the United States of America need to stand up for what we believe in and persuade our government that equal pay is a necessity. As anyone can see, the Paycheck Fairness Act can help and can harm employees and organizations are the same time. While we think that having equal pay is good, we need to take
In today’s world it is hard to believe there is still inequality in the work place based on gender. Women have always been a part of the workforce, but as explained by Ashley Farmer (2014) women became a larger portion of the male dominated positions such as manufacturing of ammunition during the Second World War due to the fact that the male workers were drafted to serve in the armed forces. Upon returning home from the war, male workers took these positions back over and most females left the work place. When the Korean War began, female workers were once again needed to fill the manufacturing positions. President Kennedy appointed Eleanor Roosevelt to lead a team to address equal pay and opportunity for women in the workforce in 1961 (Farmer, 2014). Based on the recommendations Congress passed the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The following year Congress passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act which included Title VII that bans discrimination based on race, religion and sex.
The Equal Pay Act was passed under the administration of Ronald Reagan with the goal of limiting gender discrimination in the workplace. Even since this piece of legislation was put into action, however, women have continued to work towards furthering their rights in the workforce. Women now constitute 46.8% of laborers, yet as of 2013, the median yearly earnings for women are more than $10,000 less than that for men. Within this already large wage gap, there is even more disparity between the average incomes for minority women – including black, Hispanic, and Asian women – and white men, according to the Women’s Bureau. This disparity is often referred to as the glass ceiling – a symbolic barrier that prevents women from making progress in the professional world
From 1848 to 1920 one of the biggest inequality movements took place—it was known as the Women’s Rights Movement. This life changing movement was fought by well-known women such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who formed the National Woman Suffrage Association. This association focused on achieving the right to vote for women. Unfortunately, racism tainted the movement. Furthermore, sadly the fight for equality in the workplace is still taking place today. For example, gender bias still exists in the workplace after 50 years of the passing of the Equal Pay Act.