In 1963, the Equal Pay Act marked a big milestone in the fight to end wage discrimination in the United States. The law established “equal pay for equal work,” making it illegal to pay men and women different salaries for the same job.
But the battle didn’t end there.
It was 46 years before the U.S. passed another major piece of legislation that specifically addressed the gender pay gap. In honor of Equal Pay Day, we’re taking a look back at the progress we’ve made in this century—and the tireless advocates who’ve gotten us this far.
Sources:
1 https://www.oyez.org/cases/2006/05-1074
2 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2014/09/05/how-womens-tennis-fought-for-equal-pay/
3 https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2012/01/30/archives-president-obama-signs-lilly-ledbetter-fair-pay-act
4 https://www.aauw.org/resources/legal/laf/past-cases/wal-mart-stores-inc-v-dukes/
5 https://www.icrw.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Everything-You-Need-to-Know-about-the-Equal-Pay-Act.pdf
6 https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senate-passes-womens-equality-package
7 https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/06/14/businesses-taking-equal-pay-pledge
8 https://fortune.com/2017/12/07/adobe-equal-pay-gender-pay-gap/
9 https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/times-up-sexual-harassment-shonda-rhimes-reese-witherspoon-1202650552/
10 https://19thnews.org/2021/06/paycheck-fairness-act-fails/
11 https://www.npr.org/2022/02/22/1082272202/women-soccer-contracts-equal-pay-settlement-uswnt