What Would You Do with $11,000?
Meghan Groob
Media Relations Associate, ACLU
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Today is Equal Pay Day. Today "marks how far into 2013 women must work to be paid what men were paid in 2012 alone." Fifty years ago, President John F. Kennedy signed the equal pay act and yet women are still only earning 77 cents to every man's dollar. At first, this may not seem like a cause worth fighting for. People see 77 cents and think, "Well, that's nearly a dollar, what is an extra 23 cents going to do?" Well, it would stop women from losing $11,000 every year. And it would also give women the opportunity to put more money into many different things. As I mentioned earlier, it is difficult for women to manage housework/ childcare and a job. $11,000 could certainly help with that. In fact, it would pay for an entire year of daycare. It would also pay for most of the average person's credit card debt, "Paying that off would put control of your finances back in your own hands." It would also cover a year's worth of groceries, health insurance and electric bills. And after you paid that, you'd still have enough left for a round trip flight to Paris.
"On this Equal Pay Day, we must urge Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. The Paycheck Fairness Act provides a much needed update to the Equal Pay Act – a law that has not been able to achieve its promise of closing the wage gap because of limited enforcement tools and inadequate remedies."
By passing the Paycheck Fairness Act, Congress will be allowing women to have better lives all around. Whether it's paying the essentials, taking care of their families or just treating themselves once in a while. By passing this act, they'd be giving women the extra $11,000 they deserve for doing the same jobs as men.
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