PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — March 24 is the 25th Equal Pay Day, created by the National Committee on Pay Equity to illustrate the wage gap between men and women.
The date symbolizes how much farther into the next year women must work to earn the amount of money men make in a given year. NCPE has been working for decades to eliminate gender- and race-based wage discrimination.
The American Association of University Women says, at the current rate, women will not be paid the same as men until 2093.
"If you look at the average man and the average woman, the average woman makes 79 cents on the dollar. That’s a 21% pay gap," said David Anderson, an analytics professor at Villanova University’s school of business.
Anderson is also one of the founders of PayAnalytics, which makes pay equity software for businesses with over 50 employees.
He says, when pay equity is uncovered, there are a few solutions.
"There are certainly equal pay lawsuits that happen. Lots of individual employees, and occasionally, big class action lawsuits."
He also says some employers will pay men and women equally to appear socially responsible.
Amal Bass, attorney and director of policy and advocacy at the Women’s Law Project, says equal pay laws have been on the books for half a century. But she says it’s not enough.
"We need paid family medical leave. We need to address pregnancy discrimination and accomodating pregnant people who are working. We need to raise the minimum wage," Bass said. "And it can’t just be through a gender lens, it also has to include addressing racial discrimination as well."
Bass says, in Pennsylvania, state law bars cities and towns from raising the minimum wage. It’s called pre-emption. But legislation has been introduced to reverse it.
"There is a bill pending right now to repeal the minimum wage pre-emption, which prohibits places like Philadelphia from actually going forward and raising the minimum wage, and that’s something that could be done," Bass said.
House Bill 923, which would allow a localized minimum wage, was introduced by State Rep. Kevin Boyle, who represents parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery counties.
The bill was referred to the House Labor and Industry Committee on March 15.
Bass says lawmakers must get serious about closing the wage gap and raise the bar for all workers.
"There are all kinds of policy proposals that, if our Congress and if our General Assembly of Pennsylvania made them a priority, would certainly help address the problem."