Pictured at press conference from left are state Rep. Linda M. Gentile, D-Ansonia, with Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Catherine Smith, Permanent Commission on the Status of Women Director
Teresa Younger, and Department of Labor Commissioner
Sharon Palmer. / Contributed photo
The
state is embarking on a new initiative to study and seek
remedies to the current gender-based wage gap among state workplaces. A
Pay Equity Day press conference
announced efforts to investigate and address the wage gap in
Connecticut.
Organized by the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women, the conference featured state Rep.
Linda M. Gentile, and two state commissioners, Sharon Palmer,
Department of Labor, and Catherine Smith, Department of Economic and Community Development.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy recently directed Palmer and Smith to look into the current pay
equity situation.
Also attending the press conference was Jacqueline Cooke of the U.S.
Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau. Lt. Gov. Nancy
Wyman presented a Pay Equity Day resolution.
In January of this year, Malloy
asked Palmer and Smith to:
(1) study the factors that contribute to the gender wage gap in Connecticut’s private sector;
(2) identify best practices that can be implemented to address the gender wage gap; and
(3) make recommendations (by October, 2013) for actions that can be taken by businesses to remedy this inequity.
"I would like to thank the PCSW for all the good work that they do, but
in particular, their efforts surrounding pay equity. I would also like
to thank Gov. Malloy
for his commitment to the women of our state, and Lt. Gov. Wyman for
her leadership in this regard.
"I am confident that under the able
direction of Commissioner Palmer and Commissioner Smith the task force
will be able to make specific recommendations to
help move Connecticut forward with regard to pay equity,” Gentile said.
“Although we have made progress over the past 50 years, I am sad to say
that it has been at a snail’s pace. I want nothing more than to see
women reach equality with men
when it comes to salary and wages paid to do the same jobs.
"As the
proud grandmother of four granddaughters, I am very hopeful that by the
time they are old enough to begin their careers, they will earn a full
dollar for their work efforts, as opposed to
only earning a fraction of that same dollar."
Since the Equal Pay Act was signed in 1963, the wage gap has been
closing at less than one cent per year.
In 2011, Connecticut full-time
working women earned 78 percent annually
of what their male counterparts earned, amounting to a yearly wage gap
of $13,229 between full-time working men and women in the state.
Nationally, the wage gap hovers at around 80 cents for every male dollar
earned, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s
Women’s Bureau.
This post is taken from a press release from Gentile's office.
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