Pay Equity Gender Differences and Legislation

The term "pay equity" originates from the fact that women as a group are paid less than men. In recent years, for example, women with a strong commitment to the workforce earned about 77 to 80 cents for every dollar earned by men. As women's earnings as a percentage of men's earnings have narrowed by less than 20 percentage points over the past 40-plus years, some members of the public policy community have argued that current anti-discrimination laws should be strengthened and that additional measures should be enacted. Others, in contrast, believe that further government intervention is unnecessary because the gender wage gap will narrow on its own as women's labour market qualifications continue to more closely resemble those of men. This book explores the trend in the male-female wage gap and examines the explanations that have been offered for its enduring presence. Also discussed are the major laws directed at eliminating sex-based wage discrimination as well as relevant federal court cases and pay-equity legislation.