I’m hoping that every woman in America pays attention to the issue of pay equity this election.  You may know that a white woman earns only .76 for every dollar her male colleague makes; the numbers are even more dismal for women of color.

But you may not know that sometimes women get paid less than men to do the same job.  Yes, that’s discriminatory but sometimes the employer gets away with it.

Take the case of Lilly Ledbetter for example.  Ledbetter, an Alabama grandmother, worked at a Goodyear tire plant for 19 years, blazing a trail as a female supervisor. She found out that, despite commendations for her work, she had received smaller raises than had the male supervisors.  Ledbetter sued - and won but Goodyear appealed all the way to the Supreme Court.  The Court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that her claim fails because she had not filed it within a six month time frame from the time the initial discrimination began.  Hard to do, since she didn’t know that she was being discriminated against until years later.

In 2006, I had the privilege of speaking with Hillary Clinton on the topic of pay equity for women.

She was eloquent on the topic; truly committed to the notion that women should get equal pay for equal work.  Her senate website offers a pamphlet on the subject (guess who contribured the negotiaitng tips?)

Hillary is still committed to that notion; in her speech at the DNC, she contrasted the Democratic platform with that of John McCain, saying, “And in 2008, he still thinks it’s OK when women don’t earn equal pay for equal work.”

Barack Obama supports pay equity as well.  As he said when he accepted the Democratic nomination in Denver:

“And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day’s work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.”

Not only should we be paying attention to the candidate’s positions on the the issue of pay equity, we should be paying attention to the progress of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that Republicans have stalled in Congress (see the National Women’s Law Center website for the latest attack and contact your representatives to stop it).  That legislation would fix the outcome of the Supreme Court decision described above - restoring reason and interjecting a strong dose of reality to a situation that affects every working woman in America.

TAGS: candidates, Equal pay, income disparity, issues, negotiating pay

With all the talk of economic instability, it may seem untoward to be thinking about how to ask for a raise but if you have demonstrated the value you bring to your company, it very well may be feasible.  In fact, smart companies are more likely to want to keep their top talent satisfied in challenging times.

The May/June issue of Pink Magazine (cited here before) included 2007 survey results which indicated that 51% of women had asked for a raise, perk or promotion (down from 54% in 2006).  And it paid to ask - of those who did, 79% heard “yes”.

When you get ready to broach the subject, start by benchmarking what you should be paid.  Penelope Trunk (The Brazen Careerist) mentioned a few online sources she recommends in a recent post. This step is critical for women who get much better outcomes when they negotiate for themselves armed with good information. 

TAGS: Economy, income, income disparity, negotiating pay, Negotiation, negotiation skills, Penelope Trunk, recession, strategies for success, Women and Money, women's equality

Consider this:

“Since 1975, practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20% of households.”

“Long-term problems [for the U.S. economy] include inadequate investment in economic infrastructure, rapidly rising medical and pension costs of an aging population, sizable trade and budget deficits, and stagnation of family income in the lower economic groups.”

“Real median earnings of both men and women who worked full-time, year-round declined between 2005 and 2006 (1.1 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively). This is the third consecutive year that men and women experienced a decline in earnings.”

These quotes may sound like propaganda to some, but the sources are pretty sound. The first two statistics are quoted verbatim from the CIA World Factbook (yes, CIA as in Central Intelligence Agency). The third is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest “Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage Report.” I added the italics.

I would add another statistic that is alluded to but not quite spelled out in that report: That median income, which was $48,201 in 2006, still hadn’t returned to its 1999 peak.

Plenty of people today are feeling the economic headwinds. It’s not their imagination, or necessarily their failure. More and more of the financial pie has been going to those at the top. Although pay disparity is of particular interest to women, income disparity should be of concern to everybody.

As individuals, we should do everything we can to succeed, including saving, investing and getting the best education we can for ourselves and our children. But we also should be mindful that wide income disparities are a destabilizing force in society. Real progress means gains for all groups, not just those already at the economic pinnacle.

TAGS: Economy, income, income disparity, income stagnation