Batgirl fought for equal pay in this 1972 PSA and the fight continues over 40 years later. Today is #EqualPayDay, the day that represents the additional 3 months and 14 days that women must work each year to earn what men made during the previous year. The gender pay gap varies based on profession, race, and location but, on average, American women are paid 78 cents to every dollar a man makes -- this translates to an average loss per woman of $435,049 over the course of a 40-year career. In the US, the 1963 Federal Equal Pay Act made it illegal for employers to pay men and women different wages for the same job. After determining that many employers weren't following the act, the U.S. Department of Labor created this PSA as part of a broad campaign to educate workers, especially women, about their right to pay equality. Today, there's a new effort to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would update the 1960s law and bring it in line with other civil rights laws. Under the new law, women would be able to talk about wages with co-workers without the fear of being fired and it would strengthen penalties for equal pay violations. A new study has also found that ending the pay gap would cut in half the number of working single mothers living in poverty, from 30 to 15 percent. To take a stand for #PayEqualityNow and send a message to Congress calling on them to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, visit the National Women's Law Center at http://bit.ly/1OxAGJZIf you'd like to introduce your children to women who have fought for women's rights and equality throughout history, visit our "Role Models Biography" book section at http://www.amightygirl.com/books/history-biography/biographyFor books about both real-life and fictional girls and women who confronted sexism and gender discrimination in a multitude of forms, visit our "Gender Discrimination" section at http://www.amightygirl.com/books/social-issues/prejudice-discrimination?cat=69And, if your Mighty Girl loves Batgirl, we feature many Batgirl-related toys, costumes and more in our "Batgirl Character Collection" at http://www.amightygirl.com/character-collection/superhero-characters?cat=655
Posted by A Mighty Girl on Tuesday, April 14, 2015