iNearly 50 years after President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, on average women are still paid less than their male counterparts for doing comparable jobs – that’s called the pay gap. For the average working woman, the pay gap means $150 less in her weekly paycheck, $8,000 less at the end of the year, and $380,000 less over her lifetime. For women of color and women with disabilities, the disparity is even bigger.
Earlier this year, in conjunction with the Equal Pay Task Force, I announced the Equal Pay App Challenge, the latest in a series of steps the Obama Administration has taken to secure a woman’s right to equal pay for equal work. The App challenge invited software developers to use publicly available labor data and other online resources to create applications educate users about the pay gap and to build tools to promote equal pay.
We had an enthusiastic response to the challenge and thanks to our winning applications, now anyone with a smart phone, tablet or computer can find tips on important salary topics from typical pay ranges, skill level requirements for certain jobs, how to negotiate salaries, and more. I am excited to announce the winners of the Challenge: Aequitas, Close The Wage Gap, theGender Gap App, and Demand Equal Pay For Women.
Learn more about each winner here: http://www.dol.gov/equalpay/apps-winners.htm.
From the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the very first bill President Obama signed into law, to the creation of the National Equal Pay Task Force, President Obama has helped address pay longstanding pay inequity for women in the workforce. Today, thanks to the creative work of the Equal Pay App Challenge winners, we take another important step to close the gap.
I also invite you to join us for a Twitter chat about equal pay for women on Friday, April 20th at 12pm EDT, by following the hashtag #EqualPayChat. You’ll be able to ask equal opportunity experts questions about the current pay gap and how to equip women with the necessary resources to make informed career decisions. We will also be talking about – and with — the winners of our Equal Pay App Challenge. Send us your questions before or during the event via Twitter to @USDOL using hashtag #EqualPayChat or by email to womensbureaunetwork@dol.gov.
You can learn more at www.dol.gov/equalpay and at the labor department’s Women’s Bureau at www.dol.gov/wb.
by Hilda L. Solis is the United States Secretary of Labor.
