The wage gap is closing, but many women still make less money than men doing the same jobs.
On average, Lin Clousing with the Wisconsin Federation of Business and Professional Women says it takes nearly 16 months of work for women to earn what men do in one year. She says women make an average of 77 cents for every dollar a man in the same job earns, with many minority groups making even less.
Today is "Equal Pay Day," the point at which women catch up to what their male counterparts made in 2007. Clousing says the nearly four months of extra work highlights the need to achieve pay equity now. She says wage requirements should be based on skill, effort, and responsibility, without consideration of race, gender, or ethnicity.
Clousing says women continue to take on more responsibilities for lower wages, but still have to pay their way. She says they don't get a discount for making everyday purchases just for being women, so it makes no sense for their wages to be lower.
Without action to speed up the process, Clousing says women won't reach pay equity until 2057.
AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (MP3 1:10)
