The Equal Pay Act

The Equal pay act

The equal pay act was enacted by congress in 1963. The purpose of this legislature was to ensure that women were not performing work of the same effort and responsibility, possessing the same skills but were paid a lower wage than their male counterparts. Compensation discrimination is prohibited by law and enforce by the department of Labor.

Until the early 1960's employers advertised jobs for males and females separately. The higher level jobs were advertised almost only for males in the help wanted sections of newspapers. The equal pay act is important to the 1960's because during the time frame of the 1950's and early 1960's, women earned approximately 59-64 cents for every dollar that males earned. On June 11, 1964, it became illegal to pay men more than women for the same job based strictly on sex.

The equal pay act is important to today because in today's environment the economy requires that many women are in the work force. Almost 25 million women are in the work force. It is imperative that women are paid equal wages to ensure that their families are sufficiently provided for. If the family is of a low economic status the higher the likely hood that the women's income is essential. Among these working women many are mothers with school age children. In homes where the mother is the primary financial provider, she must often choose between lower pay and public assistance. The financial crisis that we are faced with today makes it more important than ever that women are receiving the same wages as their male counterpart. Women today have the right to file a discrimination complaint regarding these pay discrepancies.