EQUAL PAY:

A THIRTY-FIVE YEAR

PERSPECTIVE

U.S. Department of Labor

Alexis M. Herman, Secretary

Women’s Bureau

Ida L. Castro

June 10, 1998

1-800-827-5335 http://www.dol.gov/dol/wb/
In the John F. Kennedy Library Photo #DX65-27:7 10 Jun 1963

PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY SIGNS THE EQUAL PAY ACT ON JUNE 10, 1963.

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EQUAL PAY: A THIRTY-FIVE YEAR PERSPECTIVE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Letter from the Secretary ................................................................................9

Introduction ..................................................................................................13

Part I. The Early Impact of the Equal Pay Act: 1960-1975 .........................15

Part II. Making Their Place in the Work Force: 1975-1985........................23

Part III. Moving Forward — Making a Difference: 1985-1997 ...................29

Part IV. Issues to Watch in the New Century ..............................................43

Appendix A: Chronology and Tables ..........................................................51

Appendix B: Data Supporting Figures in Text .............................................57
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LISTING OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Part I

Figure 1. Stubborn Pay Gap Persists........................................................................ 15

Figure 2. Women in the Labor Force, 1960-1997 ................................................... 17

Table 1. 10 Leading Occupations for Women, 1960-1980 ..................................... 18

Table 2. Leading Nontraditional Occupations for Women, 1960-1980 ................. 19

Table 3. Important Federal Court Cases Related to the Equal Pay Act of 1963 .... 21

Part II

Figure 3a. Labor Force Participation Rate of Women by Age, 1950-1990 ............. 23

Figure 3b. Labor Force Participation Rate of Men by Age, 1950-1990 .................. 24

Table 4. 10 Leading Occupations for Women With Median Weekly

 Earnings of Women and Men, 1985-1997 ................................................ 25

Figure 4. Earnings of Persons Age 25-54 by Race, Ethnicity and Gender ............. 27

Part III

Figure 5. Earnings by Sex/Race/Ethnic Type for

 High School Grads and College Grads, 1997 .......................................... 32

Figure 6. Percent of Family Earnings Contributed by Wives, 1997 ........................ 34

Table 5. Leading Nontraditional Occupations for Women, 1985-1997 ................. 36

Table 6. Median Weekly Earnings of Full-Time Workers

 in Nontraditional Occupations, 1985-1997.............................................. 37

Figure 7. Number of Women-Owned Businesses, 1972-1992 ................................. 39

Figure 8. Sales/Receipts and Payrolls for

 Women-Owned Businesses, 1972-1992 ................................................... 39

Figure 9. Number of Workers Employed by

 Women-Owned Businesses, 1972-1992 ................................................... 40
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Part IV

Table 7. Fastest Growing Occupations, 1996-2006 ................................................ 44

Table 8. Industries With Fastest Employment Growth, 1996-2006 ....................... 44

Appendix A: Chronology and Tables

Equal Pay Chronology .............................................................................................. 51

Table 1. Labor Force Participation Rate of Women, 1960-1997 ............................ 53

Table 2. Women and Educational Attainment, 1960-1997 ................................... 54

Table 3. Underpayments Found by the U.S. Department of Labor

 Under the Equal Pay Act, Number of Employees Underpaid,

 and Income Restored, Fiscal Years 1965-1978 ......................................... 55

Table 4. Employed Women, 1960-1997 .................................................................. 56

Table 5. Full-Time/Part-Time Job Status of Working Women, 1960-1997 ............ 56

Appendix B: Data Supporting Figures in Text

Table 1. Stubborn Pay Gap Persists ......................................................................... 57

Table 2. Women in the Labor Force, 1960-1997 .................................................... 58

Table 3a. Labor Force Participation Rate of Women by Age, 1950-1990 .............. 59

Table 3b. Labor Force Participation Rate of Men by Age, 1950-1990 ................... 59

Table 4. Earnings of Persons Age 25-54 by Race, Ethnicity and Gender ............... 60

Table 5. Earnings by Sex/Race/Ethnic Type for

 High School Grads and College Grads, 1997 ........................................... 61

Table 6. Percent of Family Earnings Contributed by Wives, 1997 ......................... 61

Table 7. Number of Women-Owned Businesses, 1972-1992 .................................. 62

Table 8. Sales/Receipts and Payrolls for

 Women-Owned Businesses, 1972-1992 .................................................... 62

Table 9. Number of Workers Employed by

 Women-Owned Businesses,: 1972-1992 ................................................... 62
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LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY

Thirty-five years ago, President John F. Kennedy signed historic, landmarklegislation to guarantee equal pay for women and men who held the same job.

The Equal Pay Act changed the legal landscape for working women and laid a firm

foundation for the beginning of their unprecedented movement into the paid labor

force.

At the signing ceremony for the Equal Pay Act on June 10, 1963, special recognition was given to women’s leaders, Members of Congress, and government officials,

such as Business and Professional Women President Dr. Minnie Miles, National

Council of Negro Women President Dr. Dorothy Height, Congresswomen Edith

Green and Edna Kelly and Assistant Secretary of Labor Esther Peterson, who were

lauded for their leadership and vision.

These leaders understood that the Equal Pay Act was necessary — not just for the

many women who were already holding down jobs essential to their well-being and

that of their families — but for the next generation of women seeking to expand their

horizons beyond the familiar sphere of family and community volunteer work. They

were visionaries who understood the dignity of work and the moral imperative of

equal pay. They blazed a trail for a new generation of women. Women who would

come of age in a world where social customs, workplace trends, and occupations

would be vastly different from those in 1963.

The Equal Pay Act is as relevant today as it was on the day it was signed. The law

provides a critical foundation for women seeking greater opportunities in the workplace and a paycheck free from stereotypes about the value of women’s work.

The women who share their 35th birthday with the Equal Pay Act need and depend

on the law as much as their mothers did in 1963. Although they have benefited

from a generation of phenomenal progress for working women, there is still a wage

gap — full-time working women between the ages of 25 and 35 earn only 84

percent of the weekly earnings of men their age.
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This generation of women has invested greatly in education, returned quickly to the

labor force after child birth, held more full-time jobs and sought more nontraditional

jobs than any in our nation’s history. Their mere presence in the labor force has

transformed our work culture, spurred new industries, and infused the nation’s

labor force with a ready supply of educated and skilled workers. It is difficult to

imagine our nation’s economy without them.

The Equal Pay Act has lived up to the promise articulated by the great Esther

Peterson when she said, “Most of our major legislation to meet human needs had to

run the painful gauntlet of bitter resistance and attack. Yet in retrospect, we can see

that these laws will serve the cause of freedom. Without them our nation would not

be so strong or respected.”

During an 18 year long effort to enact the legislation into law, the Equal Pay Act

weathered intense criticism that the test of time has proven unfounded. The law is a

basic foundation for women’s economic empowerment that has served as a path for

our progress and a model for other nations.

In the early 1960s, there were many who resisted the Equal Pay Act, and there are

many today who question the motivation of those who seek to expand this law. In

fact, the arguments against our progress today are frighteningly similar to those

raised in the past.

There are three fundamental reasons why equal pay is in America’s best interests.

First, this is a family issue. Today, nearly three out of four women with children

work. In many cases, women are the sole breadwinners. When women aren’t paid

equally, the whole family suffers. Second, it’s good business sense. Women make

America work. They comprise nearly half of our workforce. Equal pay is essential

to attracting good workers and keeping America competitive in this global economy.

Finally, this is a kitchen table economic issue and an issue about simple right and

wrong. Working women pay the same as men for goods and services — and should

be paid the same for their work in producing goods and services.
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This report presents a look at where we have come from, where we are today and

where we need to go tomorrow to build on our commitment to equal pay and to

continue to reap its benefits. We can make no greater investment in our future than

valuing and rewarding all of our workers equally, regardless of our gender, race or

other nonmaterial differences. Our challenge is to keep working for equal pay until

every American can say they work for equal pay.

Alexis M. Herman

Secretary of Labor
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INTRODUCTION

In June 1998, we commemorate the anniversaries of two very important events for

working women — the 78th anniversary of the founding of the Women’s Bureau

and the 35th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act. In honor of these two occasions,

we are pleased to present Equal Pay: A Thirty-Five Year Perspective. This

report is a historical analysis of the economic trends affecting women workers from

the years leading up to Equal Pay Act passage through the present. It is divided into

three time periods to highlight important developments: Part I. The Early Impact of

the Equal Pay Act: 1960-1975; Part II. Making Their Place in the Work Force:

1975-1985; and Part III. Moving Forward — Making a Difference: 1985-1997.

Within each time frame, the report provides data on women’s labor force participation, leading occupations and educational attainment. When available, it also

includes data on wages, issues particular to women of color and other important

trends.

In some cases, in order to frame an important issue or trend, the report presents

statistics outside of the section in which readers would expect them. The conclusion,

Part IV. Issues to Watch in the New Century, sums up these patterns and discusses

trends to watch for in the future.

The report makes clear that the Equal Pay Act laid the foundation for massive

changes not only in women’s pay but in patterns of work and the nature of work

itself. Working women were affected by these changes and they, themselves, were

the agents of change.

When President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, 35 years ago, the wage gap

stood at 59 percent. Women earned 59 cents, on average, for every dollar earned

by men. Job advertisements in newspapers nationwide listed separate openings —

with separate pay scales — for women and men doing the exact same jobs. And

women were explicitly discouraged from applying for many jobs, which fell only

under the category “Help Wanted — Male.”
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In 1997, women earned 74 cents for every dollar men earned, on average. For the

first quarter of 1998, the weekly wage ratio reached 76.3 percent. The gendersegregated newspaper ads, with their separate pay scales for men and women, are

long gone. Equal Pay Act enforcement has ensured that employers understand the

law, and working women understand their rights.

The Women’s Bureau is extremely proud of the role of former Director Esther

Peterson, who fought tirelessly for passage of the Equal Pay Act. And we honor all

the former Women’s Bureau directors — including our current Secretary Alexis M.

Herman — for the many and significant milestones they have achieved for women

workers. The Women’s Bureau will continue to serve as a voice for working

women and a partner with business, government and labor to further women’s

economic opportunity and security. As First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton said at

the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, “If women have a

chance to work and earn as full and equal partners in society, their families will

flourish. And when families flourish, communities and nations will flourish.”
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P A R T I .

THE EARLY IMPACT OF THE

EQUAL PAY ACT: 1960-1975

Passage of the Equal Pay Act Establishes A Critical

Threshold for Working Women

For two years before the Equal Pay Act passed Congress, Assistant Secretary

of Labor and Director of the Women’s Bureau, Esther Peterson, traveled

throughout the nation sharing poignant and passionate stories of women she

had met throughout the nation who desperately needed this legislation. “I

see the unequal pay problem not only nationally and economically, but I see

it as reflected in the lives of women workers I have met throughout the

country. I have seen its sharp and painful thrust in factories in which women

and men stand side by side doing the same work but receiving different pay.”1

F I G U R E 1

Source: Median earnings for full-time year-round workers from the Current Population Survey adjusted for inflation using CPI-U 1982-84=100

for persons 15 years old and over beginning with 1980; persons 14 years and older inprevious years.
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The Equal Pay Act set a basic labor standard that reversed the historical

practice of paying women less than men for their work. Under the new law,

employers could no longer pay women lower wages than men for doing

essentially the same job, unless they could show that the wage differential was

clearly based on seniority, merit, the quality or quantity of work or another

factor other than sex.

Passage of the Equal Pay Act firmly supported women’s economic rights, and

improved earnings of those women who worked with men in a range of

occupations. It was later expanded to cover employees in executive, administrative, professional and outside sales jobs.

In 1963, stereotypes about the appropriate role for women — particularly

married women with children — made it extraordinarily difficult for women

to obtain the types of jobs that men held. Women were discouraged from

seeking education and training for fields such as medicine, law and business

and restricted from apprenticeships for skilled trades. In 1963, among fulltime, year-round workers, the average woman earned only 59 percent of the

wages of the average man. (See Figure 1. Supporting data in Appendix B:

Table 1.)

Increases in Women’s Labor Force Participation

and Education

After the law was passed, women’s labor force participation rate (the combined percentage of women holding jobs and those looking for work) continued to increase while growing numbers of women sought to continue their

education. Women’s labor force participation rate rose from 37.7 percent in

1960 to 46.3 percent in 1975. (See Appendix A: Table 1.) The number of

women in the labor force increased from 23.2 million in 1960 to 37.5 million

in 1975 — a 61.3 percent increase.2 (See Figure 2. Supporting data in Appendix B: Table 2.)

The expansion of the female labor force in the 1960s and 1970s largely

reflected the entry of married women into the labor force, especially those

with children. In 1960, only a quarter of married women with children

worked or were looking for work. By 1975, 44.9 percent of married mothers

were in the labor force. (See Appendix A: Table 1.)
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The numbers of women graduating from college or graduate school grew as

well. In 1960, 35.3 percent of all bachelor’s and first professional degrees

were awarded to women. By 1975, 45.3 percent of all bachelor’s degrees went

to women. (See Appendix A: Table 2.)

Women Remain Employed in Traditional Women’s

Occupations

Between 1960 and 1972, the top ten occupations held by women were in

areas employing few male workers. (See Table 1.) In 1965, nearly two-thirds

of women were employed in clerical, service or sales positions. Thirteen

percent of women held professional and technical jobs, yet even these were

likely to be traditional women’s jobs, such as teachers or nurses.3

While women’s participation in the paid labor force increased steadily from

1960 to 1975, the mix of occupations that women were employed in did not

change significantly. By 1975, private household worker was no longer the

F I G U R E 2
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number one occupation of women, but it was still among the top four jobs,

trailing secretaries, retail trade sales clerks and bookkeepers on the top jobs

list. Elementary school teachers ranked as the fifth most likely job for

women, slipping below bookkeepers.

In 1975, the only two occupations to fall from the top ten occupations list

were sewers/stitchers and cooks. They were replaced by two other predominantly female jobs, waiters and nursing aides/orderlies/ attendants. The

decline of sewers/stitchers and the increase of waiters and nursing aides/

orderlies/attendants were reflectors of the emergence of the service sector and

the decline of the manufacturing sector. (See Table 1.)

Women who did work in the nontraditional occupations — those employing

fewer than 25 percent women — mainly worked on farms, as janitors or in

retail sales. (See Table 2.)

Women of Color in the Labor Force

Until the mid-1970s, when labor force participation rates for white women

started increasing rapidly, black women had much higher participation rates

than white women. In 1964, a higher proportion of non-white than white

T A B L E 1
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women were in the labor force, most strikingly among the 25 to 34 year age

group, among which 53 percent of non-white women, but only 35 percent of

white women held jobs. Data for wages by race and gender were not collected during this time.4

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination in

employment on the basis of race and gender, was generally acknowledged to

be more significant in furthering employment opportunities for women of

color. Under Title VII, employers were prohibited from discriminating in

hiring, promotion and wages.

Enforcement and Expansion of the Equal Pay Act

In the early 1970s there were a number of court cases and administrative

actions that increased the effectiveness of the Equal Pay Act. A case that was

decided in 1970, Schultz v. Wheaton Glass Co., 421 F.2d 259 (3rdCir. 1970),

T A B L E 2
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affirmed that the Equal Pay Act was “intended as a broad charter of women’s

rights in the economic field,” and that it sought to “overcome the age-old

belief in women’s inferiority and to eliminate the depressing effect on living

standards of reduced wages for female workers and the economic and social

consequences which flow from it.”

This case clarified for the first time that jobs need only be “substantially

equal” not “identical” to fall under the protection of the Equal Pay Act. This

equal work standard strengthened the law by ensuring that employers could

not simply change the job titles for women and men performing basically the

same jobs to justify a pay differential.

Four years later, the court further clarified that employers could not justify

lower pay for women through a defense that the “going market rate” for

women’s labor was lower than men’s, or that employing women at different

times of the day than men for the same jobs entitled the employer to pay

lower wages to women. In Corning Glass Works v. Brennan, 417 US 188

(1974), the Supreme Court held that a wage differential arising “simply

because men would not work at the low rates paid women” was illegal under

the Equal Pay Act. (See Table 3.)

Between June 1964 and January 1971, under the Equal Pay Act, the Department of Labor found underpayments amounting to over $26 million due to

nearly 71,000 employees, almost all of them women. The Department filed

over 200 lawsuits, about 75 percent of which were decided or settled, most of

them favorably.5 (See Appendix A: Table 3.) At that time, the Equal Pay

Act covered most employees who worked in manufacturing, processing, and

distributing establishments; in telephone, telegraph, radio, television, and

transportation industries; in banks, insurance companies, and advertising

agencies; in laundries and dry cleaning establishments; most hospitals and

nursing homes; and most schools (both public and private); in the larger

hotels, motels, restaurants; and other retail and service establishments.6

The following year, the law was broadened to cover executive, administrative,

professional and outside sales employees by the Education Amendments Act

of 1972. In 1974, equal pay protections were further extended to public

sector workers in the states and their political subdivisions by the Extension

of Equal Pay Act.
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The expansion of the law brought needed protections to millions of additional women. For instance, in the latter part of 1971, a young woman

professor at a small private college inquired at the Department of Labor,

Wage and Hour Division about a possible equal pay violation. She had

recently discovered that the college hired male professors in her department

at an annual salary of $13,000. The woman, who had been with the school

for a year, was earning $8,500. The case presented by this employee was

T A B L E 3
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undeniably more clear cut than most situations the Division investigated

under the statute. However, at that time, college professors and other professional employees were not protected by the Equal Pay Act.7

With the expansion, by 1975, total underpayments to employees under the

Act reached more than $125 million affecting nearly a quarter of a million

workers.8

In 1975, among full-time workers, women’s yearly earnings were 58.5 percent

of men’s earnings. (See Figure 1.)
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P A R T I I .

MAKING THEIR PLACE IN THE

WORK FORCE: 1975-1985

Rise of Women in the Labor Force Continues,

With Slow Movement Into Nontraditional Occupations

During the ten-year period between 1975 and 1985, women’s labor force

participation and education continued to increase. Also, this period marked

the beginning of women’s movement into more nontraditional jobs.

F I G U R E 3 A

The increase in the number of married mothers in the labor force continued

to have a dramatic impact upon the overall labor force participation rates of
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women. The labor force participation rate of women over their life span

began to resemble the pattern of men’s — it no longer dipped down in the

mid-career years, as it had previously when many women left the paid labor

force to care for family. (See Figures 3a and 3b. Supporting data in Appendix

B: Tables 3a and 3b.)

By 1980, private household worker had fallen to number eight on the list of

top ten occupations for women, and by the close of 1985 it dropped completely from the list. At the start of the 1980s, the four most likely jobs for

women were still secretaries, bookkeepers, retail trade sales clerks and cashiers. By 1985 a new occupational category made an appearance on the top

ten list — managers and administrators, not elsewhere classified (n.e.c.).

This job trailed secretaries as the second most likely occupation for women.

(See Table 4.)

The appearance of managers/administrators among the top four women’s

occupations reflected a number of new trends, including the increased education and work experience of women and the growing “office economy,” which

F I G U R E 3 B
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demanded new workers with management, administrative and computer skills

in government and the service sectors.9

The introduction of electronic typewriters and personal computers also had a

tremendous impact on women’s jobs during this time frame. In 1975, computers were not common office equipment. By 1985, desktop computers

emerged as a popular tool for word processing, data analysis and internal

communication. This advance in technology revolutionized clerical, administrative, managerial and professional jobs. The advance of the computer has

had particular impact on jobs for women, over one quarter of whom held

T A B L E 4
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administrative and clerical positions during this time period. The number of

typists jobs started to decline in the mid 1970s, a pattern which continued

throughout the 1980s. By 1985, typists had dropped to number ten on the list

of top ten occupations of employed women. By 1990, typists had completely

dropped off the top ten list.

Wage Gap Narrows

As the 1980s began, the wage gap, which had been fairly constant for nearly

two decades, began to narrow. The wage ratio between men’s and women’s

earnings improved, going from 56.6 percent in 1973 to 60.2 percent in 1980

and 64.6 percent by 1985. (See Figure 1.)

In 1973, both men and women had experienced a peak in their real earnings,

and both felt the effects of a subsequent recession in their paychecks. While

women were able to regain ground and increase their earnings, men’s earnings

have still not fully reached their 1973 heights. Real earnings for women

slowly increased between 1973 and 1985 by almost 2 percent, while real

earnings for men declined by 10.7 percent. The changes in the wage ratio

during these early years reflect both the slow steady climb of women’s earnings and the decline in men’s earnings.

While women entered more nontraditional, higher paying occupations, they

were still unlikely to earn the same wages as men holding those same jobs.

For instance, in 1985, women comprised 29 percent of all workers in the

category “managers and administrators n.e.c.,” yet their wages were only $363

per week, 72 percent of the $501 that men in the same occupation earned.

(See Table 4.)

Employment by Race

White, black and Hispanic women all experienced significant employment

growth during the decade of the eighties. In 1979, the Department of Labor,

Bureau of Labor Statistics began reporting weekly wages for black men and

women. It showed that black women, who represented the largest female
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minority group, earned 7.9 percent less than their female white counterparts,

and 25.6 percent less than black men.

Over the next ten years, earnings for white women grew faster than for black

women, particularly in comparison to black men. In 1985, white women

earned just 7.8 percent less than black men, while black women earned 17.3

percent less than black men. This trend continued until 1991, when white

women reached parity with black men, while black women were still earning

13.8 percent less than black men. (See Figure 4. Supporting data is in

Appendix B: Table 4.)

F I G U R E 4

Growth in Educational Attainment

Another significant trend during this time frame was the growth in women’s

educational attainment. In 1975, women were earning 45 percent of all

bachelor’s and master’s degrees — by 1985 they were earning fully half of

those degrees. Growth was even more dramatic in the attainment of first

professional degrees, which doubled between 1975 and 1980, from 12 percent

to 25 percent, and continued to soar to 33 percent by 1985. (See Appendix

A: Table 2.)
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The slow gains in women’s earning power were of particular concern to

leaders in women’s organizations and others who monitored women’s economic progress. The Women’s Bureau’s 1975 Handbook on Women Workers

published data showing that women with college degrees still earned less than

the average man with only a high school diploma, suggesting that the occupations women held were still not compensated for the skills and education that

women brought to their work. For instance, in 1979, men with just a high

school education earned 8.4 percent more than women with five or more

years of college education. Compared to men with similar levels of college

education, the women earned 54.9 percent as much.10

Enforcement Issues

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a number of important administrative and

court actions strengthened enforcement of the Equal Pay Act and improved

women’s pay. First, on July 1, 1979, all functions related to enforcing or

administering the Equal Pay Act were transferred from the U.S. Department

of Labor and the Civil Service Commission to the U.S. Equal Employment

Opportunity Commission (EEOC) pursuant to Reorganization Plan No. 1 of

1978. Between July and September 1979, the EEOC resolved 350 Equal Pay

complaints.11 (See Appendix A: Equal Pay Chronology)

Second, in 1981, the Supreme Court clarified in County of Washington v.

Gunther, 452 U.S. 621 (1981), that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act was not

limited by the equal work standard found in the Equal Pay Act. However,

this decision did not lay out any new standards by which wage discrimination

cases should be analyzed under Title VII. The Court left that discussion to

lower courts as individual cases came before them. Many of these cases were

lost when plaintiffs, bringing suit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act

could not provide evidence of intentional wage discrimination against

women who held similar skills and responsibilities as men, but worked in

different occupations. (See Table 3.)

After 1981, Equal Pay Act (EPA) cases were often combined with Title VII

suits. A number of cases filed under the EPA were against public employers

whom the Commission alleged paid their female employees less than male

employees performing substantially equal work. Many of the EPA cases filed

against employers in the private sector involved service-related or retailing

jobs, such as public health nurses, physician assistants, customer service

representatives, and managerial positions.12
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P A R T I I I .

MOVING FORWARD — MAKING

A DIFFERENCE: 1985-1997

Since the Equal Pay Act was passed, women have ensconced themselves

firmly in the labor market. Between 1985 and the present, the equal pay issue

has continued to resonate as greater numbers of women find themselves

working side by side in the same jobs as men, yet earning less pay. A number

of new issues related to pay have emerged also. In the late 1980s, a new term,

the “glass ceiling” was coined to express women’s frustration with their inability to break through to the top paying jobs in corporate America. Another

significant issue to gain widespread awareness has been the difficulty in

balancing work and family. More married mothers than ever before are

working, and their earnings have become a significant factor in family wellbeing. Finally, as computer technology has continued to evolve, home-based

businesses and telecommuting have grown and women’s business ownership

has risen dramatically. In 1994, the U.S. Department of Labor Women’s

Bureau released the Working Women Count! A Report to the Nation, which

showed that improving pay and benefits was one of working women’s three

main priorities for change, alongside balancing work and family and gaining

respect and opportunity on the job.13

Labor Force Participation of Women

In 1985, women’s overall labor force participation reached 54.5 percent,

while the percentage of married women with children in the labor force grew

to 60.8 percent. A solid majority of married mothers were working, and their

labor force participation rates continued to rise each year, reaching nearly

three-quarters by the end of 1997. (See Appendix A: Table 1.)
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Wage Gap Hits An All Time Low, As Women’s

Earnings Slowly Rise and Men’s Wages Drop

Between 1985 and 1990, the wage gap continued to narrow. By 1990, the

wage ratio hit the 72 percent mark — women who worked full time, year

round earned 72 cents for each dollar a man earned, based on annual earnings. Yet during the next six years the annual earnings ratio began to follow

the “one step up — two steps back” pattern of preceding years, and slipped

back and forth between 70 and 72 percent until 1996, when it reached the

current high of 73.8 percent. Weekly wages for women ages 16 and over

experienced a similar pattern — they hit a high ratio of 77.1 percent in

1993, yet slipped down to 74.4 percent by the end of 1997.14 First quarter

data for 1998 look promising for women — according to the Department of

Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics’ median weekly earnings data, women who

worked full-time earned 76.3 percent of men’s earnings, on average.

In its September 1997 report, Money Income in the United States: 1996, the

Census Bureau cautioned specifically that the drop in the wage gap was not

necessarily cause for celebration. “Recent increases in the female-to-male

earnings ratio have been due more to declines in the earnings of men than to

increases in the earnings of women,” it said. The report further explained

that women’s real earnings have remained stagnant since 1990, while men’s

real earnings have dropped by 3.3 percent.15

Women’s rising level of education and experience in the labor market, and

their growing share of better-paying managerial and professional jobs have

been critical in increasing women’s real earnings during the 1980s and maintaining their level during the 1990s. Yet even within these good-paying jobs,

women’s average earnings have not reached those of men.16

1997 Bureau of Labor Statistics weekly wage data show that women earned

less than men in 99 percent of all occupations for which data is available. For

example, women in the prestigious executive, administrative and managerial

occupations earned wages that were 69.7 percent of men’s pay, while women

in the professional specialty occupations averaged 75.0 percent of men’s

weekly wages.17 Even among medicine and health managers, 76.8 percent of

whom were women, women earned 74 percent of what men earned.18
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Enforcement at EEOC and OFCCP

From Fiscal Year 1985 through Fiscal Year 1997, EEOC filed 164 cases,

resolved 251 lawsuits, and recovered over $16 million either under the Equal

Pay Act alone or under the Equal Pay Act in combination with Title VII of

the Civil Rights Act.

While EEOC continued to hold enforcement authority for the Equal Pay

Act, in the early 1990s the Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract

Compliance Programs (OFCCP) began meeting with much success in resolving instances of wage discrimination among federal contractors through the

Executive Order 11246. Executive Order 11246 (issued in 1965 and

amended in 1967 to include gender) requires that non-exempt federal contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action in employment and prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of sex, among other things.

OFCCP ensures compliance with equal employment opportunity laws

through routine compliance evaluations and complaint investigations.

Women have benefitted greatly as a result — since OFCCP implemented a

specific focus on corporate management practices in 1993, there have been

over sixteen compensation settlements, awarding women and minority

workers over $5 million to correct discriminatory wage practices.

Education Levels Soar, Pushing Overall Earnings

for Women Up

Education levels for women at the undergraduate and master’s degree level

began to match those of men in 1981 and 1982. By 1990, women took home

more than half of bachelor’s and master’s degrees and nearly 40 percent of all

first professional degrees. This trend has held constant during the 1990s.

Earnings for college-educated women finally began to surpass those of men

who had not attended college. Yet for women of color, the gains were not as

great as for white women. 1996 Census data show that earnings for white

college-educated women were seven percent higher than for men who held

high school diplomas and G.E.D.s; Hispanic college women earned only 5

percent more and African American college women earned less than one

percent more than high school-educated men.19 (See Figure 5. Supporting

data in Appendix B: Table 5.)
32

Young Women Still Fighting the Wage Gap

Even though young women still experience a wage gap, it is less than the gap

faced by older women. In 1997, women under 25 years of age working full

time earned 92.1 percent of men’s weekly earnings as compared to 74.4

percent for women age 25 to 54.20

Many economists have predicted that as women’s education, experience and

occupations come to match those of men, their pay will follow. Researchers

have focused intently on the education patterns and labor force experiences

of the youngest women to gauge their future impact on working women. In

Baccalaureate and Beyond, the Department of Education surveyed college

graduates from 1992 and 1993 and found an average wage gap of 15.7 percent

between men and women. The report also documented differences in the

fields of study chosen between women and men, with women more likely to

prepare for and enter lower-paying occupations, such as teaching and clerical/

administrative positions. However, such choices were hardly universal. The

study found that more women majored in business than in any other specialty.21

F I G U R E 5
33

A recent article in the Department of Labor’s Monthly Labor Review explored

the effects of major fields of study and occupational choices on women’s and

men’s earnings for 130 major fields. It compared earnings for women and

men by college major, occupation and age, and found that while earnings

differences were smaller for those with similar characteristics, they did not

disappear completely. Women earned 100 percent or more of men’s earnings

in 8.5 percent of the major fields, representing only 2 percent of women’s

employment. In about half of the fields, accounting for almost half (48

percent) of employment, women’s earnings were at least 87 percent of men’s

earnings. In the remaining 51 major fields, or 39 percent, accounting for the

remaining half of employed women, earnings were less than 87 percent of

men’s pay.

Among women in the 25 to 34 year age group, the fields that led to the best

earnings ratios within occupations were: accounting, chemistry, computer

and information sciences, engineering, mathematics and pharmacy.

Of further interest, the study estimated how much of the wage gap would

disappear if men and women were equally likely to study the same subjects

and enter the same occupations at roughly the same age. It noted that the

actual 73 percent ratio between college-educated women’s and men’s earnings

would increase by nine percentage points to 82 percent, if men and women

held the same degrees, chose the same occupations and were the same age.22

Gains for young, highly-educated and motivated women without children

have been impressive indeed. However, as economist Katha Pollitt has

pointed out, “young men and women have always had earnings more comparable than those of their elders: Starting salaries are generally low, and do not

accurately reflect the advantages that accrue, or fail to accrue, over time as

men advance and women stay in place, or as women in mostly female kinds of

jobs reach the end of characteristically short career paths.”23

Working Families Depend on Earnings of Women

It is also important to recognize that most working women in the United

States do have children at some point during their prime working years. In

1997, 40 percent of all working women had children under age 18 at home.

New mothers are returning to the workforce sooner after having children and
34

are more likely to continue working for pay than they are to become homemakers and care for their own children exclusively. In 1996, 54.3 percent of

women were back on the job by their baby’s first birthday, while 63.3 percent

of moms with two-year-old children held paying jobs.24

During the late 1980s and 1990s, the proportion of families maintained by

women increased greatly. In 1997, 18 percent of all families were maintained

by women.25 In these families, women’s earnings made up 75 percent of total

family income.26

In addition, the number of families with two working parents increased by

nearly half a million between 1995 and 1996 alone, while the number of

“traditional” families with a husband employed as breadwinner and wife

engaged as homemaker remained unchanged. Both parents were employed

in 63.9 percent of married-couple families with children 18 and younger,

while 28.2 percent of these families had an employed father and a homemaker mother.27

F I G U R E 6
35

Women contribute substantially to family earnings. In 1996 working wives

contributed an average of 36.5 percent of family earnings. White wives

contributed 35.8 percent, black wives contributed 43.7 percent and Hispanic

wives contributed 37.5 percent. (See Figure 6. Supporting data in Appendix

B: Table 6.)

There is a strong connection between the earnings of working mothers and

the economic well-being of their families, according to a recent Monthly

Labor Review article. Wives’ earnings reduced the poverty rate by more than

half for U.S. born and immigrant Mexican families, by more than three-fifths

for Cubans and blacks, and by three-fourths for white families.28

Women Gain More Managerial/Professional

Occupations, Yet Clerical and Teaching Fields

Still Among Most Likely Occupations

The most significant changes in the order of top ten occupations for women

between 1985 and 1990 involved the rise in sales supervisors and proprietors,

and the dropping of typists from the list. Secretaries still topped the list,

followed by managers/administrators, with bookkeepers, cashiers and nurses

close behind. Waiters, elementary school teachers, nursing aides/orderlies/

attendants and sales workers were still on the latter half of the list. By 1995,

bookkeepers fell from its slot in the top four jobs, losing ground to cashiers,

sales supervisors and proprietors. (See Table 4.)

Although elementary school teacher was not among the top five jobs for

women, it should be noted that teachers (not including post-secondary

teachers, those teaching in colleges and universities generally) numbered 3.6

million in 1997. This was the largest category of women workers in 1997,

larger than the 3.0 million secretaries. Teachers have accounted for a consistently large group of women workers, but because statisticians divide teaching into the sub-categories of elementary, high school, kindergarten/prekindergarten, and special education teachers, the significance of the overall

number of women teachers is hidden.
36

Nontraditional Occupations for Women Evolve

At the same time that women began increasing their presence in managerial

and administrative occupations, they were also making their imprint on

skilled technical and machinist positions. Women have joined the ranks of

bank officials and financial managers, transport equipment operatives, engineering and science technicians and computer specialists. These occupations

have shaped the post-industrial period and been the first indicators of a new

age of information and technology. Women’s educational gains, particularly

at the graduate level, have led to such increases in professional fields that

women now account for more than 25 percent of all lawyers and physicians

— thus these once male bastions are no longer “nontraditional” jobs for

women. Moreover, it is still true that weekly earnings of women working full

time in the nontraditional occupations, such as precision production and

high technology fields, are substantially higher than in traditional women’s

jobs, although somewhat less than those of their male counterparts. (See

Tables 5 and 6.)

T A B L E 5
37

Glass Ceiling Commission Documents Barriers,

Recommends Changes for Working Women and

Minorities

Although women entered the managerial and professional occupations in

record numbers during the late 1980s and 1990s, surveys of corporate leadership and senior government positions found that very few women were

reaching the upper levels of management in corporations and public service.

This was especially true for black women. Historically, black women have

worked longer in paid employment and have greater work experience than

white women. In 1987, they accounted for a record 50 percent of total black

employment and have represented the larger segment of black employment

ever since. Black women were more likely than white women to work, but

generally earned less and held lower status jobs.29

T A B L E 6
38

In the late 1980s, Senator Robert Dole sponsored legislation to create a

bipartisan Glass Ceiling Commission to study the barriers to advancement in

the workplace for women and minorities, issue reports on its findings and

share recommendations. In 1991, President George Bush appointed members

to the Glass Ceiling Commission.

In 1995, the Commission issued two reports. The first, Good for Business:

Making Full Use of the Nation’s Human Capital, found that women and minorities had made some inroads into entry level managerial and professional jobs,

but faced significant barriers to movement up the rungs of the corporate

ladder. The Commission found that 97 percent of the senior managers of

Fortune 1000 and Fortune 500 companies were white, and 95 to 97 percent

were male. In the Fortune 2000 industrial and service companies, only 5

percent of senior managers were women. In addition, the Commission

indicated that when women or minorities did achieve the top jobs, they were

not able to collect the same paycheck. Its report included an analysis of the

unique barriers faced by African American women, Asian women, Hispanic

women and Native American women, as well as the problems for African

American men, Asian men, Hispanic men and Native American men.30

The second report, A Solid Investment: Making Full Use of the Nation’s Human

Capital, offered eight recommendations for business and four for government

to help break through the glass ceiling and improve opportunities for all

women and minorities. In addition, it listed societal initiatives to help

change the attitudes that reinforce the glass ceiling. Many of these recommendations have been woven into Department of Labor strategies to ensure a

secure workforce.31

Women-Owned Businesses Flourish

Finally, another important trend that emerged during this period was the

phenomenal growth in women-owned businesses. Women owned fewer than

one million firms in 1977. By 1992, they owned nearly 6.4 million businesses. Today, that number has increased to eight million (including C

Corps) — one third of all firms. Women-owned businesses contribute more

than $2.3 trillion annually in revenues to the economy, more than the gross

domestic product of most countries, and employ one out of every five U.S.
39

F I G U R E 7

F I G U R E 8
40

workers — a total of 18.5 million employees.32 (See Figures 7, 8 and 9.

Supporting data in Appendix B: Tables 7, 8 and 9.)

In the last few years, some women’s leaders have commented that the continuing existence of the glass ceiling has fueled the skyrocketing growth in

women-owned businesses. A February 1998 study by the National Foundation for Women Business Owners found that 29 percent of women business

owners with corporate experience said that “glass ceiling issues” were significant in motivating them to start their own companies.33

Writer and women’s rights activist Gloria Steinem has noted that the growth

in self-employment and micro enterprise among women is similar to the

entrepreneurial patterns of other minority groups, particularly immigrants to

the United States, who have experienced language barriers, stereotypes and

discrimination which limited access to jobs and hindered earning potential.

“Owning your own business can give women freedom and equity, not just

security and a salary. It isn’t right for everyone, but women, like other minority groups before them, are discovering entrepreneurship including cooperatively-owned businesses,” she said in a meeting of women’s leaders with

F I G U R E 9
41

government officials following the Fourth World Conference in Beijing,

China.

Some have criticized the promotion of self employment, particularly micro

enterprise and other home-based business as viable avenues to boost women’s

earning power because of their high financial risk, long hours and few health

or pension benefits. Yet Ms. Steinem pointed out that in some communities,

such as rural North Carolina, women who cooperatively own a handicraft

business were averaging a $9.00 per hour wage, much higher than the average

hourly wage for workers in that State.

Home-Based Businesses and Telecommuting

In fact, the interest of women in home-based employment during the 1990s

has been a significant factor in the dramatic reversal of the previous 20 year

trend toward declining at-home workers. Home-based business employment

declined from 4.7 million in 1960 to 2.7 million in 1970 and 2.2 million in

1980 before rising to 3.4 million in 1990. Commenting on the major factors

contributing to the growth of at-home workers, the Daily Labor Report noted

that women were a proportionately larger group of the at-home group of

workers (52 percent) than they were in the “work away from home” group

(45 percent.) In addition, the report predicted that “[g]iven the advancements in personal computers and Internet technology since these data were

collected in the 1990 census, we expect more significant increases in the

proportion working at home by Census 2000.”34

Even more dramatic estimates of at-home workers have already been reported

by groups that study telecommuting. A Telecommute America survey found

that in 1997 approximately 11 million workers performed some part of their

jobs via a computer that was connected to an outside employer.35

It is unclear what impact the home-based business and telecommuting trends

will have on women’s pay. Some have expressed fear that the lack of “facetime” in an office setting diminishes women’s opportunities for promotions

that lead to higher pay. Others have pointed to the blurring distinction

between workplace and home and worry that employers will begin expecting

more hours on the clock, yet will not make corresponding increases in pay.
42

Balancing Work and Family

The interest of many women and men in working from their homes is directly

related to the stress that working parents feel trying to balance the need to

earn an income that supports a family while still being available to meet the

physical and emotional needs of their children, parents and community

responsibilities. The 1990s have been marked by the growth in companies

implementing formal policies to help workers meet their families’ needs, the

passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the number of conferences

and reports urging more action on the part of government officials and business leaders. Support for such benefits as child care, elder care, flextime and

flexiplace has grown significantly while demand for greater attention to these

issues continues to affect the bottom-line business success of employers.

While work and family benefits are generally not calculated as wages, the

value of these benefits can help working women maintain jobs, and wages,

that might otherwise be lost due to pressing needs of families. For instance, a

paid family and medical leave policy has an obvious impact on the income of

a working woman who takes such a leave. Unpaid leave protects wages as

well, by making it possible for workers to take time off to care for a family

member or their own health needs, while keeping the job and its accompanying wages on hold. This makes the transition back to work much smoother

and ensures overall continuity of wages and an employment history or career

path. Flexiplace and flextime programs often similar advantages to workers,

helping them to maintain jobs which they may not otherwise be able to keep

when family needs require greater flexibility. Some employers also offer

assistance in purchasing dependent care services, which is a significant monetary benefit for some working women and men.
43

P A R T I V .

ISSUES TO WATCH IN THE NEW

CENTURY

Advances in Technology, Expansion of the Service

Economy and Increased Opportunities for HighlyEducated Workers

The last three decades have been marked by significant economic changes.

High-wage manufacturing occupations, which accounted for nearly a third of

all jobs in 1964, now make up only 15 percent of all jobs. The service producing industries, including government, education and retail trade, comprised two-thirds of all jobs in 1964 and four-fifths of jobs today.36 Advances

in technology have transformed the occupations available, the manner in

which goods are produced and the basic living conditions of U.S. workers.

These developments, combined with recent economic forces such as corporate downsizing and an economy soaring from record stock market gains, have

led to a stratification in the workforce — a demand for highly-educated and

skilled workers at one end of the spectrum and fewer good-paying opportunities for those without education and professional skills at the other.

Women Meet Demand For Skilled and Educated

Workers, But Wage Gap Persists

The effects of such change on women workers have been complex. Women

represent a growing share of the educated workforce and their skills have

served the economy’s need for more workers in health services, retail trade,

education and government. This has led to the overall increase in women’s

earnings.

Most of the fastest growing occupations are concentrated in one or more of

the rapidly growing industries of computer and data processing services;
44

T A B L E 7

T A B L E 8
45

health services; and management and public relations shown in Table 7.

Since 1985, women have held about 28 percent of the computer system

analyst/engineer and scientist jobs. In the fast-growing health care occupations, women continue to hold three-quarters of all therapist jobs — respiratory, occupational, physical, and speech —and have increased their share of

physician’s assistant jobs from 38 percent in 1985 to 63 percent in 1997.

Looking at the projections for the top ten fastest growing occupations from

1996 to 2006 in Table 7, women currently comprise the larger share of most

of these occupations. Women have increased their employment in the

growing occupations, yet their median weekly earnings still lag behind similarly employed men. For instance, men who worked as computer system

analyst/engineers earned $952 per week, while women earned $850 in 1997.

As therapists, where women outnumber men three to one, they still earned

less than men — women’s weekly earnings were $686 compared with $733

per week for men.37

Continuing Inequity Squeezes U.S. Families

Continuing inequities in pay hurt not only women, but families as well.

Trends such as corporate downsizing and the loss of high-wage jobs for high

school-educated men have put much economic pressure on families. Families

have come to depend on the earnings of working women to maintain middleclass living standards. In the 1960s, the majority of families with young

children were supported by one earner, usually the husband. The Women’s

Bureau’s testimony in support of the Equal Pay Act asserted that women who

were in the workforce in 1960 were there for economic reasons.38 Today,

women are still working for economic reasons — the earnings of working

wives in married-couple families provided 32.6 percent of family income in

1996.39 The majority of married- couple families send two earners to the

workplace, and there are higher numbers of single parent families.
46

Increase in Dual Earner/Single Parent Families

Fuels Demand for Workers in the “Business of

Caring”

While our working patterns and daily tasks on the job have changed, our

social patterns and daily tasks off the job have been slower to evolve. Married women with children have shifted into the paid labor force, yet families

still need the tasks that women have routinely performed in the home as

labors of love. The “business” of caring for children, or sick and elderly family

members and managing the needs of a household are often performed by

women after a full day of paid work. Husbands do more “chores” than they

used to, yet time use surveys show that the division of labor within the home

is still not even.

Women’s presence in the labor force has given rise to a demand for paid

workers to take on the tasks of dependent care and home management.

Many families have turned to professional dependent care workers, cleaning

services, take-out meals and other services to alleviate their stress and meet

their many responsibilities to their families. This demand has led to the

growth of businesses providing these services, and current projections show

that the number of workers in these fields will expand further.

Equal Pay Good For Women, Families and the

Economy

The Equal Pay Act laid the foundation for women to move into the

workforce with dignity and to demand the rightful reward for their efforts.

Since its passage, working women have made tremendous strides. There is

still more ground to cover before the wage gap between men’s and women’s

wages is eliminated — and this should be a goal for all of us.

As we move into the new century, we must wage a multi-faceted effort for

equity. We must strengthen and enforce vigorously our laws against wage

discrimination. We must shatter the glass ceiling so women can compete

fairly for well-paying jobs in business, government and other arenas.
47

Finally, we need to recognize that work is a source of dignity as well as a

source of income. Occupations which are projected to grow significantly,

such as cashier, receptionists/information clerks, and home health aides, are

traditional women’s jobs where 75 percent or more of the workers are women.

They are typically among the lowest paying positions. However, they, too,

contribute to society and the workers who perform them deserve our appreciation and respect.

In the past thirty five years, women have joined the labor force in record

numbers. Today, they account for nearly half of all workers and represent a

significant segment of the educated and skilled workforce. Women have

driven new ways of working and changed the way we think about the relationship between work and family. They have made our nation the world

power it is. Our commitment to equal pay has been, and continues to be, not

only the right moral action to take, but good for our nation’s families and our

nation’s economy.
48

1 Statement of Ester Peterson, Assistant Secretary of Labor, Before the Subcommittee on

Labor of the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare on S.910, the Equal Pay Act,

April 2, 1963.

2 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Handbook of Labor Statistics, 1989,

Employment and Earnings, January 1998 and unpublished tables. 3 U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, Table 42. Major Occupational Groups of

Employed Women, 1965 Handbook on Women Workers, p. 89. 4 U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, 1965 Handbook on Women Workers, p. 16. 5 Morag MacLeod Simchak, “Equal Pay in the United States,” International Labor Review,

June 1971.

6 U.S. Department of Labor, Workplace Standards Administration, Wage and Hour

Division, “Equal Pay Under the Fair Labor Standards Act as Amended in 1966,” Wage and

Hour Publication 1179, Reprinted August 1970.

7 U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, “Equal Pay Benefits for White Collar

Workers,” Equal Pay Briefing Kit, August 1972.

8 U.S. Department of Labor, USDL 75-402. “Illegal Underpayments of Workers Rise 13

Percent in Fiscal Year 1975,” July 1975.

9 U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, 1975 Handbook on Women Workers. 10 Anthony P. Carnevale and Stephen J. Rose, “Education for What? The New Office

Economy,” Educational Testing Service, 1998.

11 U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 14th Annual Report for Fiscal Year

1979.

12 These suits included: EEOC v. State of Delaware (D.Del. 1983); EEOC v. Madison

School District, (S.D.Ill 1983); EEOC v. Memphis Mental Health Institute (W.D.Ill. 1983);

EEOC v. Missouri Department of Corrections, (E.D.Mo. 1983); EEOC v. Von Hoffman Press,

Inc. And Graphic Arts International Union Local III-B, (W.D.Mo. 1983); and EEOC v.

Fremont Christian School, (N.D.Cal. 1983). 13 U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, Working Women Count! A Report to the

Nation, 1994. 14 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 37. Median weekly earnings

of full-time wage and salary workers by selected characteristics, Employment and Earnings,

January 1998.

15 U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, Bureau of

the Census, Money Income in the United States: 1996, p.ix, Current Population Reports,

Consumer Income, p. 60-197.

16 “Stall in Women’s Real Wage Growth Slows Progress in Closing the Wage Gap,”

Institute for Women’s Policy Research, February 1998.

17 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 5. Median weekly earnings

of wage and salary workers who usually work full time by detailed occupation and sex,” 1997

Annual Averages.

18 See Lemons. v. City and County of Denver (620 F.2d 228 (10th CIR. 1980) for an

example of the difficulty that women in some of these administrative/managerial occupations

face in using current law to raise allegations of wage discrimination. Since the jobs are not

“substantially equal” they are outside the Equal Pay Act’s protections, and since it is difficult

to prove that employers are intentionally discriminating against women in pay, Title VII of

the Civil Rights Act is not always effective.

19 U.S. Census Bureau, Table 15. Educational Attainment — Total Money Earnings in

1996 of Persons 25 Years Old and Over, by Age, Race, Hispanic Origin, Sex, and Work

Experience in 1996, Median Earnings for Year-Round, Full-Time Workers.

20 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Unpublished data, Current

Population Survey, 1997.
49

21 U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement,

National Center for Education Statistics, “Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study: A

Descriptive Summary of 1992-93 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients 1 Year Later, With an Essay

on Time to Degree,” Statistical Analysis Report, August, 1996. 22 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Daniel E. Hecker, “Earnings of

college graduates: women compared with men,” Monthly Labor Review, March 1998. 23 Katha Pollitt, “Go Figure,” The Nation, April 14, 1997. 24 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 6. Employment Characteristics of Families in 1996.

25 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 2. Employment Characteristics of Families in 1997.

26 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Work and Family Statistics,

Annual Demographic File, Current Population Survey, Unpublished data from Table 26, 1997. 27 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Tables 2 and 4. Employment

Characteristics of Families in 1996.

28 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, “The effect of working wives on

the incidence of poverty,” Monthly Labor Review, March 1998. 29 U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, 1983 Handbook on Working Women. 30 Good for Business: Making Full Use of the Nation’s Human Capital, Federal Glass Ceiling

Commission, Washington, DC, March 1995.

31 A Solid Investment: Making Full Use of the Nation’s Human Capital, Federal Glass Ceiling

Commission, Washington, DC, November 1995.

32 U.S. Small Business Administration, “Statistics on Women Business Ownership,”

November 1996.

33 Robert Schwab, “Women executives warn of female brain drain. Conference in May

takes aim at Glass Ceiling,” Denver Post, March 17, 1998. 34 “Employment Increase in At-Home Workers Reverses Earlier Trend Census Says,” Daily

Labor Report, May 7, 1998. 35 Ibid. 36 U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, “Women’s Jobs: 1964-1996: More than 30

Years of Progress.”

37 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 5. Median Weekly Earnings

for Wage and Salary Workers Who Usually Work Full Time by Detailed (3-Digit Census

Code) Occupation and Sex, 1997.

38 Statement of Esther Peterson, Assistant Secretary of Labor, to the Subcommittee on

Labor of the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare on S. 2494, the Equal Pay Act

of 1962, August 1, 1962.

39 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Work and Family Statistics,

Annual Demographic File, Current Population Survey, Unpublished data from Table 24, 1997.
50
51

APPENDIX A
52
53
54
55
56
57

APPENDIX B
58
59
60
61
62