On Tuesday April 24, women across America will be wearing little red purses on their lapels.  This is not merely some trendy gimmick stolen from the likes of Paris Hilton.  It is in fact an important symbol that should be recognized by working women everywhere.  

April 24^th  marks the day when Women of America earn a wage equal to their male counterparts for the previous calendar year 2006.   That’s right it takes an additional 4 months for full time working women to earn back the 23% that is missing from their 2006 paychecks. If you’re an African American Women you earn just 66% of your male counter parts and if you are a Latina Women your earnings are  55%  of Latino Men. 

Several academic studies including the US census show that full time working women still earn 77 cents for every dollar that full time working men earn in the workplace.   Admittedly, the 77% number is rather simplistic and does not account for the many variables that exist among workers.  

Nay Sayers point to the fact that working women often settle for lower paying occupations or positions of less responsibility in exchange for more time to spend with their families.  Often called the Mommy track.  This is partly true. For example, many women choose  to opt out of careers with supervisory authority or select  a home-based business so they can have more family time.  

What is also true is that there is documented evidence that the wage-gap exists in specific occupations, where responsibility and relative education levels are no longer factor.   (2003 data)  

Here are some of the grim statistics:

• Female physicians and surgeons earn 41% less than their male counterparts
• Female college and university teachers earn 21% less than men
• Female lawyers earn 13% less than male lawyers

 Where the data is particularly compelling is in the comparison of salaries for individual job types typically considered “women’s jobs” Like teachers or nurses, retail and services.   For example  

• Women in service occupations earn 16% less than men.  (thanks you Wal-Mar for that one)
• Female elementary and middle school teachers earn 10% of similarly employed men
• Female registered nurses  earn 12% less then male nurses, yes there are a few of those

 Looking at the same data but slicing it by educational level, the disturbing trend continues,  

·         Women with a High School, Bachelors or  Masters degree as compared to men with the equivalent degree. Earn 73%, 75% and 72% of their male counterparts respectively.  This clearly shows that the ‘mommy track” is only partially a factor and that there still exists substantial pay in-equity in America. 

Many of the women I know cannot believe that wage inequity is still a problem in this country.  In fact, many women I know don’t realize that the Equal Rights Amendment was never ratified in enough States to make it a Constitutional Amendment.   That’s right, you all live in the only 1^st world country where men and women aren’t equal under the official governing document. 

Women are living longer, marrying less, raising children alone more frequently and yet they still earn less, have lower pensions and live more frequently below the poverty line.  All this at a time when women have been earning more college degrees than men.    One may ask why this continues to be an issue in a seemingly developed, enlightened society.  

I personally believe that as long as we do not have an amendment to the US constitution granting equality for all humans, as long as we continue to rely on spotty legislation that can easily be subverted or loop holed, (like wal-mart)  there will always exist gender WAGE  in-equality in America.  

So what can you do about it….  

1. Write to your legislators informing them that you are in fact aware of and concerned about Women’s equal pay and more importantly that you support Florida’s ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution.
2. Support events aimed at Women’s Equality and Women’s Equal Pay
3. Join Organizations like Business and Professional Women ,the National Committee on Equal Pay  and Equality Now which advocates Equal Rights for Women World wide.
4. Join Wage clubs aimed at identifying and documenting organizations that continue to pay women less for comparable work.
5. If you own a business, conduct a self-audit to be sure women are paid equally
6. Whenever possible support Women owned businesses and women who run for political office
7. And for the more ambitious, have your local government issue a proclamation recognizing April 24^th as Equal Pay Day.   The last 2 years, the city of Orlando has issued such a document.
8. Most importantly, if you have encountered pay inequity, seek assistance immediately.  

American women have made amazing progress over the last one hundred years.  Let’s not take another hundred before we can say we have achieved equality in the workplace.