- The Equal Pay Act. The Equal Pay Act passed in 1963, required that men and women be given equal pay for equal work in the same establishment, but we didn't get there without a fight. By 1963, the Equal Pay Act had been nearly 100 years in the making. In 1870, Congress actually passed a bill prohibiting pay discrimination based on gender for federal jobs, but the bill got watered down in the Senate and was never really enforced, a problem that would come back to haunt women a century later. Over the next 93 years, women's rights groups and labor organizations alike would advocate for equal pay for women with some minor advancements, but culture would soon change. World War II brought an increase in jobs without the men to fill them. Women went from 24% of the US workforce to 37% leading unions to take up the cause for equal pay. Twice in the 1940s legislation was proposed to enforce equal pay for women on a federal level, first in 1944 by Congresswoman Winifred Stanley, then in 1945 by the National Labor Board, but despite much public support on both sides of the aisle the bills were never passed. Why? Well, some argue blatant sexism, others say the government had to prioritize employing veterans returning from war, and still others point to the wealthy business owners who fought the legislation in order to get away with paying women a lower wage. As the war ended, some women left their jobs, but others remained. By 1960, there were nearly 25 million women working, but they were earning only $0.59 to every dollar earned by their male counterparts. This all came to a head in 1961 when labor activist Esther Petersen became head of the women's bureau in the Department of Labor. She took up the cause urging President John F. Kennedy to establish the Commission on the Status of Women. Through her work she drafted the Equal Pay Act, but it wouldn't pass without a fight. Both the Chamber of Commerce and the national retail merchants association opposed it, arguing women were more expensive to employ than men due to absenteeism and turnover. In other words, women were more likely to miss work because of childcare and pregnancy. In the end, the Equal Pay Act passed and was enacted to ensure that women and men were paid the same for the same work, which apply to all forms of compensation, salary overtime, bonuses, stock options, life insurance, vacation, and benefits. Difference in pay was permitted in cases of affirmative defense as such as seniority, merit, and quantity, or quality of production, definitions that are open to interpretation. Many employers use this vague language to their advantage applying maneuvers like simply changing a job title to justify paying women less. Equal Pay Act also did little to protect women from other workplace related discrimination, but subsequent legislation stepped in to fill the gaps, like the Educational Amendment of 1972 most well known for Title IX, which prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in educational institutions that receive federal aid, and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, which protected pregnant women in the workplace, and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which gave added protections to men and women in the workforce. Despite the loopholes and limitations the Equal Pay Act had a tremendous impact on society, challenging stereotypes about women, inviting more women into the workplace, and reducing the pay gap. Women went from earning $0.59 of every dollar a man earned in 1960 to $0.77 in 2011. Change is happening, but slowly. And even today activists still continue the fight to make the workplace a fair, safe, and equal environment.