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June 11, 2013

Gender Wage Gap Persists 50 Years After Equal Pay Act 
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Monday marked 50 years since President John F. Kennedy signed the
landmark Equal Pay Act to prevent wage discrimination against women. In
a speech commemorating the law, President Obama acknowledged the gender
wage gap still endures half a decade later. 
President Obama: "The day that the bill was signed into law, women
earned 59 cents for every dollar a man earned, on average. Today, it's
about 77 cents. So it was 59, now it's 77. It's even less by the way if
you're African American or Latina. Over the course of her career a
working woman with a college degree will earn hundreds of thousands
dollars less than a man who does the same work. Now that's wrong."

 

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