AAUW - Public Policy Position on Pay Equity

$tart $mart Salary Negotiation Workshops – AAUW and the WAGE Project formed a partnership to ensure women have knowledge about negotiating equitable pay prior to graduation.

"I Am the Face of Pay Equity"
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Campus Action Project 2007-08

Behind the Pay Gap Outreach Guide (PDF)

Additional Resources

AAUW research on the pay gap

LAF pay equity resources

Community Action Project 2007-08

AAUW testimony at pay equity hearing on Capitol Hill (PDF)

State-by-state pay gap data (PDF)

AAUW's history of advocacy and action

Start a WAGE Club

AAUW's Two-Minute Activist

U.S. Government Accountability Office's new report on the gender gap in the federal workforce.

Pay Equity and Just Compensation by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)

Pay Equity Tool

Use the free fair pay compensation tool offered by AAUW's partner Job Search Intelligence to determine your personalized salary target. Virtually all job descriptions in every region of the US are available.

In June 1963, President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act. Now, in June 2009, it's time to make the law live up to its name. Urge your senators to support the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Parade Magazine Read the article "A New Push for Equal Pay" in Parade magazine »

Thanks to the hard work of AAUW Action Network members and our coalition partners, President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law on Jan. 29. Now, join AAUW in urging the Senate to continue the fight against wage discrimination by acting swiftly on the Paycheck Fairness Act as well to ensure the change hard working Americans need to receive equal pay.

According to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2007 the ratio of women’s and men’s median annual earnings reached almost 78 cents on the dollar for full-time year-round workers, up from just under 77 cents in 2006. This is the narrowest the wage gap has ever been, but it’s only an additional one cent on the dollar. One cent is chump change. It isn’t real change.

While women have been hard at work to earn their extra penny, Congress has failed to pass legislation that would give women effective equal pay protections.

In light of this development, join AAUW in telling Congress:
"Keep the Change until Women Have Real Change."

Spread the word and get others involved by sending a Keep the Change e-card to friends.

Behind the Pay Gap, research released in April 2007 by AAUW, shows that just one year out of college, women working full time already earn less than their male colleagues, even when they work in the same field. Ten years after graduation, the pay gap widens.

To match men's earnings for 2008, women have to work from January 2008 to April 2009 — an extra four months. In recognition of this inequity, Equal Pay Day was marked on Tuesday, April 28. Find out how AAUW marked this symbolic day when women's wages catch up to men's wages from the year before.

On Equal Pay Day, AAUW's Public Policy and I Am the Face of Pay Equity (150px) Government Relations Director Lisa Maatz testified before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee. Read her testimony, and read the U.S. Government Accountability Office's new report on the gender gap in the federal workforce.

In 2010, Equal Pay Day will be celebrated on April 20. AAUW presents the following resources to help you prepare for Equal Pay Day 2009 and for the continued fight for pay equity:

AAUW's Pay Equity Resource Kit (PDF). This resource kit contains a variety of useful resources to help you take action on Equal Pay Day and beyond. We’ve included information about state and federal legislation, and step-by-step suggestions to help you pursue pay equity projects.
Share your plans for Equal Pay Day. Tell AAUW what your branch or group is doing to mark the day so we can track the fight for equal pay all across America and help spread the word of your events before they happen.
Show your Senators the Face of Pay Equity! Upload a picture of yourself to send with your message to show your senators that you are the face of pay equity. Visit AAUW's Activist Photo Album to see other AAUW activists who have already shown the face of pay equity to their senators. AAUW also has posters and lapel stickers bearing the slogans "I am the Face of Pay Equity" or "The Power of One Vote" for use at AAUW events.
More Equal Pay Day activities.
Read AAUW’s Behind the Pay Gap research. Just one year after college graduation, women earn only 80 percent of what their male counterparts earn. Ten years after graduation, women fall further behind, earning only 69 percent of what men earn. Even after controlling for hours, occupation, parenthood, and other factors known to affect earnings, the research indicates that one-quarter of the pay gap remains unexplained and is likely due to sex discrimination. Over time, the unexplained portion of the pay gap grows.
Read AAUW's Public Perception of the Pay Gap research. Eighty-one (81) percent of women and 69 percent of men agree that there is a difference between the wages of male and female full-time workers.
Use AAUW's Gains in Learning, Gaps in Earning research to find out the pay gap is between college-educated men and women in your state.

For more information, call 202/785-7793 or e-mail VoterEd@aauw.org.

AAUW Public Policy and Government Relations