“Women will never make as much money as men…God made Adam first, and so women would always be second to men.” "If you would wear lower cut shirts...., you would probably get more pay.” [1]

These are just two of many, many horribly sexist comments that Wal-Mart managers said to female employees seeking pay raises and promotions. But it's more than just horribly sexist comments that's impacting women; studies show a big problem with wage and promotion discrimination against women and mothers. A recent study found that with equal resumes and job experiences, mothers were offered $11,000 lower starting salaries than non-moms. (Fathers, on the other hand, were offered $6,000 more in starting salaries than non-fathers).[2]

This has got to change!  It's 2011 after all.

Too often the issue of unfair pay for women and mothers is swept under the carpet and ignored.  We can change this.

Can you pitch in to help with the delivery of MomsRising member stories about (un)fair pay to Congress on April 12th, Equal Pay Day? Donate $10 now to help pay for the cost of change purses that say, "Don’t shortchange moms and daughters – families need equal pay for equal work!" and with member message delivery:

https://action.momsrising.org/donate/2011-Fair-Pay_Delivery/

We can't afford to let the problem of unfair pay for women and mothers continue to be swept under the carpet.  Women are now half of the entire paid labor force, and most families now need two bread winners to make ends meet.  There's no better day to bring this issue to light than April 12th, Equal Pay Day – the day that marks the date in 2011 when women will have finally earned the same amount of money, for the same work, what men earned in 2010.

To mark this day, MomsRising will be delivering a compilation of MomsRising members stories and experiences to Congress in Washington, D.C., along with a change purse with the message: Don’t shortchange moms and daughters – families need equal pay for equal work!

Your experiences are powerful. They show leaders that there are real people behind the statistics who need real solutions.  And your help delivering these stories to Congress is critical:

https://action.momsrising.org/donate/2011-Fair-Pay_Delivery/

We'll be delivering stories to Congress from MomsRising members like Laura, who had an identical advanced degree as her husband, and landed the exact same job as her husband, but at different sites.  What wasn't identical: Their pay.  Laura's husband was offered over $5,000 more starting salary for the same job, with the same resume (Actually Laura's resume gave her slightly more qualifications for the job than her husband).  And, we've also heard from members who were fired after having children--and then had a less qualified male replacement be hired for 30% more of their salary; as well as from members who retired from executive level positions only to find that less qualified male candidates were hired at higher salary rates than their outgoing rate.

While the situations and circumstances vary in the MomsRising (un)fair pay stories that we'll be delivering on April 12th to Congress, one thing is loud and clear: Families need equal pay for equal work.

To say families are struggling right now is an understatement.  In 40 states, the average annual cost for center-based child care is higher than a year’s tuition and related fees at a four-year public college. [4] Nationwide, climbing gas prices have now reached over $3.50 per gallon. [5] Many jobs that are available during this painfully slow economic recovery don't pay enough to cover the costs of basics like food and health care. [6]   That means that women and mothers are facing pay discrimination simply for being women and mothers, which further compounds families’ suffering during this economic downturn.
Equal pay for equal work is critical to ensuring our families’ economic security.

Study after study shows that women still aren't getting equal pay for equal work just when families need it most--and it's up to us to bring this fact to light by sharing our experiences with Congress.  It's outrageous that data released last year by the U.S. Census found that women who worked full-time, year round on average still made 23 cents less for every dollar earned by their male counterparts. (This marks no change from 2008’s wage gap and amounts to nearly $11,000 per year in lost earnings).  And, the wage gap for women of color in 2009 was even more staggering than for women overall. When Black and Hispanic women work full-time, year round, they only make 62 and 53 cents, respectively, for every dollar their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts earn.[7]  Further, a recent study found that with equal resumes and job experiences, mothers were offered $11,000 lower starting salaries (Fathers, on the other hand, were offered $6,000 more in starting salaries than non-fathers).[8]

Since over 80% of women in our nation have children by the time they're 44 years old, and the vast majority of moms work, this means the majority of women in our nation are touched by this type of wage discrimination at some point in their lives.

This has got to change!  And together we can make that change happen.

*When you put your $10 donation together with the donations of moms across the nation, we're able to have a significant impact together--and we can delivery your stories, messages, and experiences directly to members of Congress.  Can you pitch in now?

https://action.momsrising.org/donate/2011-Fair-Pay_Delivery/

We need your help paying for the change purses and message delivery to Congress on April 12th, Equal Pay Day, to say: Don’t short-change moms and daughters – families need equal pay for equal work!

And please share this urgent message with friends and family using the "Share the Knowledge!" buttons below. Thank you so much!

Together we're a powerful force for women and families!

[1] National Women’s Law Center, "Dukes v Wal-Mart: Why the Supreme Court Should Stand with Working Women," fact sheet, March 2011

[2] US Census and NWLC Blog: State Wage Gap Shows Little or No Improvement since 2008

[3] "Motherhood and the Math Factor: Sociologist Shelley Correll exposes biases that affect women in business and academia," http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Feb07/SS.Focus.Correll.html

[4] "Parents and The High Cost of Child Care: 2010 Update," National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.

[5] AAA Fuel Gauge Report

[6] "Many Low-Wage Jobs Seen as Failing to Meet Basic Needs," The New York Times, March 31st, 2011.

[7] US Census and NWLC Blog: State Wage Gap Shows Little or No Improvement since 2008

[8] "Motherhood and the Math Factor," http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Feb07/SS.Focus.Correll.html