Test Your Fair Pay 'Cents'

Today is Equal Pay Day in the USA.

Q. Why today, already 116 days into the year? (And why Tuesday?)

A. "The day, observed on a Tuesday in April, symbolizes how far into the year a woman must work, on average, to earn as much as a man earned the previous year. (Tuesday is the day on which women's wages catch up to men's wages from the previous week.) Because women earn less, on average, than men, they must work longer for the same amount of pay. The wage gap is even greater for most women of color."
--National Committee on Pay Equity

Now, TEST YOUR FAIR PAY 'CENTS':

1. In 1963, when the Equal Pay Act was passed, women made ___¢ on the dollar compared to men. a. 59¢ b. 63¢ c. 74¢ d. 81¢

2. Today that figure is ___¢ on the dollar compared to men. a. 85¢ b. 91¢ c. 72¢ d. 78¢

3. Black women earn ___¢ on the dollar compared to white men. a. 65¢ b. 69¢ c. 85¢ d. 87¢

4. Hispanic women earn ___¢ on the dollar compared to white men. a. 59¢ b. 52¢ c. 72¢ d. 82¢

5. Over a lifetime, how much less will women earn than men? a. $550,000 b. $700,000 c. $1,200,000 d. $2,000,000

6. Under the Equal Pay Act, employers cannot pay women and minorities less than white men with the same qualifications for doing the same job. True False

7. Under the Equal Pay Act, plaintiffs are entitled to compensatory and punitive damages if their employer has violated the law. True False

8. Women make up __% of the American labor force today. a. 38% b. 42% c. 44.5% d. 46%

9. What is pay equity?

10. What is the legal status of pay equity?

11. How large is the wage gap?

12. Why is there a wage gap?

13. Hasn't the wage gap closed considerably in recent years?

14. Is it possible to compare different jobs?

15. Who really needs pay equity?

16. Is pay equity an effective anti-poverty strategy?

17. Will the wages of white men be reduced if pay equity is implemented?

18. Will achieving pay equity require a national wage-setting system?

19. Doesn't pay equity cost employers too much?

20. Are wage inequalities the result of women's choices?

21. Will implementing pay equity disrupt the economy?

22. What is the status of efforts to achieve pay equity?

23. What can I do about pay equity?

24. What does the first bill signed into law by President Obama (the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act) do?

25. What does the opposition say?

Check your answers:

1.-8. http://www.pay-equity.org/info-quiz.html

9.-23. http://www.pay-equity.org/info-Q&A.html

24. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/RemarksbythePresidentUponSigningtheLillyLedbetterBill/

25. http://www.pay-equity.org/info-opposition.html