In 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act which prohibited job and wage discrimination based on gender. More than 50 years later, however, society has still not reached his vision for social progress.In a time where women are said to have the same educational, economic and social opportunities as men, they are still paid 80 cents for every dollar their male colleagues earn, a 20 percent difference. This is despite the fact that women make up half of the workforce, and in most cases, are important breadwinners for their families.
They also earn more than 57 percent of the nation’s bachelor degrees, and half of the professional and doctorate degrees. Gender discrimination is still a reality we live in.
Many of those who hope to debunk this fact, point out that more women are stay-at-home moms and don’t earn a wage, or they flock around jobs that traditionally pay less. The American Association for Women reports that this 80 percent statistic was taken from a sample of solely fully-employed women only.
Not only do women earn less in virtually every occupation, but they are often denied promotions and upward mobility based on their gender. Only 4 percent of Fortune 500 companies, as reported in the Washington Post, have women as their chief executives. Using tacit excuses, such as the fact that women are likely to leave the workforce when they become pregnant, have kept these disparities alive even into the 21st century. We should ask ourselves whether women gather in most low-paying occupations, or if they are low-paying occupations because they are predominately filled by women.
Many who do deny this reality believe the percentage to be closer to 92 cents on the dollar. However, these people don’t realize that whether the gap is significant or not, the important part is that the gap still exists.
This statistic does not summarize the plight of women of color in the workforce. Hispanic and African American women suffer the most when it comes to the gender-pay gap, earning as little as 54 percent of what white men are paid. While many chock this up to socio-economic differences between races, especially their access to higher education, there is still a racial wage gap that persists among members of the same gender.
This is not only a problem in our educational system, but also a deeply ingrained societal problem that will persist for another 50 years if not taken seriously. Racial and gender bias persist today in the form of earnings, which can affect our ability to pay college loans, support families or even save for retirement in the future.
The Institute for Women’s Policy Research has stated that if we continue on our same trajectory, it will not be until the year 2059 that the wage gap will finally close between men and women. Unless we demand change in our institutions – political and societal – it will be 100 years before President Kennedy’s Equal Pay Act will finally mean something to the hard-working men and women who are denied equal pay for equal work. Progress, especially social progress, is the engine of American history.

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