And on that day, we’re asking you to raise your voices in support of fair pay for women by blogging, tweeting, and posting on Facebook about this crucial issue. Please sign up to Blog for Fair Pay on April 28, and help us spread the word!

Last year, more than 80 bloggers took part in Blog for Fair Pay Day 2008. You can check out their posts here.

And things have definitely changed since then! In January, Congress passed and President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, marking a critical step in giving women the ability to challenge unequal pay.

But despite this success, pay equity is still a major issue in the movement for women’s equality. Women still earn only 78 cents for every dollar earned by men — and for women of color, the numbers are even worse. African-American women earn 69 cents and Latinas earn 59 cents for every dollar paid to men. We need to make sure that once women challenge pay discrimination, they have the tools they need to prove their cases and hold their employers accountable.

A bill currently before the Senate, the Paycheck Fairness Act, would build on the success of the Ledbetter bill and deter wage discrimination against women. The bill has already passed the House this year, and there’s strong momentum to move it forward in the Senate.

· Political Scientists $90,050
· Economists $86,700
· Financial Analysts $81,700
· Statisticians $72,150
· Broadcast News Analysts $70,370

These are average annual salaries, but they are probably on the low side of estimates if you ask me. Maybe you should quit your day job and pursue one of these careers! Ok, that’s an exaggeration. But, at least take advantage of job seeker tools. Find out how much YOUR expertise is worth in today’s market and make sure you’re getting equitable pay.

Be sure to Today I had the enormous privilege of representing you, and all of MomsRising, at the White House to watch President Obama sign the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law. As you know, MomsRising members played a major role in getting this Act passed with their over 150,000 supporting contacts to Congress.

http://www.momsrisingaction.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26510

*Please tell your friends they can thank Congress too!

Right now women without children make 90 cents to a man’s dollar, mothers make 73 cents, and single moms make only about 60 cents to a man’s dollar. Passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is a great step forward, but we still have a long road ahead of us to reach truly fair pay.

So please take a moment to thank Congress for making this first step forward and tell them that you support continued work towards fair pay for women:

http://www.momsrisingaction.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26510

Thanks!

It’s a good question. While noting that more mothers of young children work outside the home than don’t, we are not exclusively pro-”working mother” in our perspective. Nor do we stand for the proposition that a mother must be home full time with her children, or risk failing them utterly. We’d prefer the myth of the ‘ideal mother’ go the way of the loon, frankly, because there simply isn’t one. Children are born, and mothers mother in an infinite variety of social, economic, and personal circumstances. All we know for sure is that it’s way harder than it should be. And some of the reasons for this have to do with women and paid work.

Click here to continue reading.

We just heard that the House is set to vote on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act this week, and the Senate could vote as early as next week! Turns out that while the economic security package is tied up in negotiations, there is a rare window of unscheduled open time to pass long-needed bills. Congress is thinking action…and thanks to the incredible advocacy of MomsRising members and our aligned partners over the past year, Congress is thinking fair pay!

Tell Congress to not to miss this open window to pass Fair Pay! http://www.momsrisingaction.org/o/1768/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26382

After you send your letter, tell your friends so they can contact Congress too! Especially during these tough economic times, women need equal pay for equal work to ensure self-sufficiency and dignity.

Background about this issue: The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act are important steps to making sure that women are paid what they are worth. These pieces of legislation would make it easier for women to recover lost wages from bosses who discriminate and by requiring the federal government to be more proactive in preventing and battling wage discrimination.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would improve protections for workers under the Equal Pay Act of 1963 by allowing individuals to better fight pay discrimination, strengthening penalties for violation, compelling employers to explain wage gaps, and developing training for women and girls about salary negotiation.

Though they had strong support in the House, both of these bills will held up in the Senate. But the tide is turning and fair pay is a priority in this economic crisis. Together, we can pass these bills that will provide women the tools they need to gain equal pay for equal work.

Congress is meeting this week to vote on this bill, and the Senate could take it up as early as next week. And it’s not a moment too soon–believe it or not, a recent study found that pay discrimination costs the average women $434,000 over a forty year period of time.[1] Now, more than ever, women and families need the economic security brought by fair pay for equal work.

Tell Congress to pass Fair Pay today! http://www.momsrisingaction.org/o/1768/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26382

Thank you for all you’ve done to fight for fair pay – we’re in the home stretch now!

I know you’re really proud of the working motherhood arrangement you’ve crafted for yourself. But since the GOP has been holding you up as the shining beacon of model motherhood, I have a few questions for you. I think a few of the other moms I know do, as well. So I hope you don’t mind me asking! We could have a quick chat over a cup of coffee, or you could just E-mail me back — I know you’re killer on the Blackberry!

Katha Pollitt at The Nation already has posed some questions to you. And I really do want to know the answers to them. But here are a few others I’m curious about, as well:

1. If you’re elected vice president, what are you going to do to help all the other working mothers in America? You know, not all of us have the kind of support system of family and friends you do to take care of our kids, but we still have to work so we can afford food for the table, gas for our cars and the after-school day care arrangements because most of us don’t have nannies (we now know you did, at least according to your own words on this video).

2. If after several years of being vice president you discovered that you had been paid less than all the other vice presidents before you, would you be OK with not being able do anything about it? If you’re not sure, I know Lily Ledbetter would be happy to talk with you about that.

3. You say you’re going to be an advocate for special needs children, now that you have one of your own. What does that mean, exactly? Will you use the power of being second-in-command for fight for health care coverage that these children need, but many of their families can’t afford? Will you make sure that parents get all the information about special needs children and that the federal government will step up to the plate with some dollars to help achieve that? Will you be honest about your son’s challenges if he grows up in the spotlight of national politics?

4. When will you be able to tell us where you stand on issues so important to the millions of working mothers in this country? Recently, one story said that you are “unable to say at this time what [your] position is on federal policies relating to job protections and benefits for working mothers.” It sure would be nice if you’d let us know sometime in the next 49 days. Sooner rather than later would be great.

5. I know you’re a little busy at the moment, but since you’re asking so many of us to vote for you, we’d like to hear a little more about these issues and less about that Bridge to Nowhere, though I would like you to be a bit more honest about what you did with the money you didn’t spend on that bridge.

6. Oh, one other thing — I know you say you’re against “earmarks” for special pet projects, but that doesn’t seem to square with the reports that you asked for over $450 million of them in the last two years. Maybe you could just be straight with us about that one, too.

Feel free to call, E-mail or drop by. I’ll put the kettle on and Piper can hang out and play with PunditGirl. I know you think some of these questions are irrelevant, but I think it’s fair to ask how your motherhood experiences will impact your potential advice an a McCain administration’s policies on FMLA, child-care and fair pay.

I’m not Charlie Gibson, but I know we could have a really lively chat.

Sincerely yours,

PunditMom