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Can't ignore skills of half the population

Can't ignore skills of half the population

On the occasion of Pay Equity Day, the American Association of University Women, (AAUW), Batavia-Geneva-St. Charles Branch, expresses continued support of equal pay for equal work for women in our society.

More than 40 years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which outlawed paying women less than men for equal work, American women continue to make an average of 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. Pay Equity Day, April 8, is the symbolic date when women's wages catch up to what men were paid in 2013.

AAUW's national research, published in "The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap (2014)," found the following: the pay gap hasn't budged since 2002, it exists in every state of the union and nearly every occupation, it is worse for women of color and older women, it also exists for women without children, and while more education is an effective tool for increasing earnings, it is not an effective tool against the gender pay gap.

As a society it is important to recognize and reward the contributions of all peoples in the workforce, and that includes women. To be a productive society, we cannot ignore the skills and talents of half the population. As a world leader, our nation needs to set an example of gender equity not only in the workplace but in all facets of life."

Diane Gallentine

AAUW Batavia-Geneva-St. Charles Branch

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