The nation is poised for progress, but it will only come if lawmakers recognize that strengthening our economy will require paying as much attention to the kinds of jobs that are available as they pay to creating or keeping jobs in the United States.
Today is the eighth and final Labor Day the country will celebrate with Barack Obama as its president. It’s well worth taking a moment to appreciate his deep and enduring commitment to equal opportunity for women in the workplace.
MTV asked that question as it announced its 79% Work Clock and effort to call attention to the gender wage gap. This was my response.
The annual recognition of Equal Pay Day  —  the day that marks how far into the year women have had to work to catch up with what men were paid in the previous year — is always a stunning reminder of just how far we still have to go to reach true equality for women in this country.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s proposal to update the country’s overtime rules is about our future, and we all have a tremendous amount at stake.
The move makes for an extraordinary moment in the effort to establish more fair and family friendly workplaces in this country.
It has been quite the week for fair pay for women. On Monday, we witnessed a shameful act when opponents blocked the Paycheck Fairness Act in the Senate.
Can you imagine not knowing from day to day or week to week whether you will be scheduled to work or what your paycheck will look like?
The gender-based wage gap is a serious problem for women and families across the country, and it’s appreciably worse for African American women. Today, we’re reminded of just how much worse.
It’s no surprise these days that women’s wages are essential to their families and our economy. That’s why, as our #WhatMothersNeed week of action continues, we’re talking about the urgent need for fair pay.
There is a reason many of us bristle at the thought of what the nation’s workplaces were like for women during the Mad Men era: the almost universal recognition that it was a time when sexism was rampant, when women were routinely devalued, disrespected and blatantly discriminated against.
New data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveal that the gap between the wages paid to women and men in this country has not improved in the last 11 years.
Today, in a tremendous victory for home care workers, fair pay, quality care and the nation, the Labor Department issued regulations that will extend federal minimum wage and overtime protections to home care workers.
It has been 93 years since women gained the right to vote. A lot has changed in those years.
People across the country experience the challenges that come from our nation’s outdated workplace policies. But the strain between responsibilities at home and on the job is especially acute when a baby is born or a new child arrives.
People across the country are rallying in their communities and online today to mark the four-year anniversary of the last federal minimum wage increase, and to call on Congress to prioritize passage of a measure that would help bring it up-to-date.
It’s no surprise anymore that women are essential engines in our national and family economies. Women are nearly half of the workforce, breadwinners in two-thirds of households, and primary breadwinners in 40 percent of households with children. Women and families across the country know this reality well.
Seventy-five years ago last week, the nation celebrated a major victory for women and families when the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) became law.
1963 was a year of great change for our country. Martin Luther King, Jr., said the words “I Have A Dream,” President John F. Kennedy and civil rights activist Medgar Evers were assassinated, Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique first hit bookstore shelves and the Equal Pay Act was signed into law.
Monday marks the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act — a 1963 law aimed at closing the gap between the wages of men and women. But, despite this landmark law, a significant gender-based wage gap persists.