These Four Supreme Court Cases Were Major Victories in 2015
2015 brought in a wave of wins for gender equity. Let’s keep it up in 2016!
1. A Win for the Pregnancy Discrimination Act
Young v. UPS went to the heart of one of the most important workplace protection laws: the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA). Passed in 1978, the PDA states unequivocally that pregnancy discrimination is a form of sex discrimination, and it requires employers to treat pregnant employees the same as non-pregnant employees who have similar abilities or inabilities to work. This spring, the court ruled 6-3 in favor of Peggy Young, which means that she will be able to present her case to the lower court for a ruling on the merits. Had the court sided with UPS, it could have weakened the PDA’s protection for pregnant workers.
2. Women’s Health Care Protected
King v. Burwell was yet another challenge to the Affordable Care Act. In King, opponents of the health care law argued that tax credits that help low-income people afford health care coverage should only be available to people in states with state-run health care exchanges. If the court had sided with the challengers, millions of women would have lost health care coverage.
3. Voting Rights: Victories and Questions
With a major election cycle gearing up, voting rights are on our minds.The court saw several significant cases this term that addressed gerrymandering and redistricting. Two of the most significant were the linked cases Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama and Alabama Democratic Conference v. Alabama. The court of appeals sided with the state. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court reversed, sending the plan back to the lower court for a district-by-district review. Although the court did not rule on the constitutionality of the plan, it indicated that a majority of justices believed that at least some of the districts were drawn unconstitutionally. The court’s decision doesn’t ensure that the plan will be declared unconstitutional by the lower court, but it offers a chance for the challengers to make a case.
As we approach the 2016 election next year, these challenges will be front and center.
4. And Last But Not Least, Marriage Equality Prevailed!
Though all of the court’s decisions are significant, this term will be remembered for one particular case: Obergefell v. Hodges. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court ruled that states must allow same-sex couples to marry and must recognize same-sex marriages validly performed in other states. Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the court, relied on earlier cases that had established the right to marry as a fundamental right. Of the same-sex couples seeking to marry, he wrote, “They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”
Humans Will Probably Walk on Mars Before Women Get Equal Pay
Here are just some of the things we might have before women achieve equal pay: flying cars, long walks on Mars, teleportation, hoverboards, household robots. Houston, we have a problem.
Based on two different projections — the pace of change since the 1960s and the pace of change in the past decade — women won’t see equal pay until 2059 or 2276, respectively. That’s because progress in closing the gender pay gap has stalled in recent years. The result? It could be more than 250 years, or nearly three generations, until women get fair pay.
There’s a problem when futuristic wish lists become more realistic than the prospect of equity. You can help close the pay gap by donating to AAUW this #GivingTuesday.
Altogether, the gender pay gap costs a typical woman at least $400,000 over the course of her career. That’s no small chunk of change. Because of the pay gap, women are more likely than men to live in poverty, struggle with the burden of student debt, and experience economic insecurity in retirement. The harm caused by pay inequity runs deep, especially given that women make up a record 40 percent of U.S. breadwinners.
According to AAUW’s latest research, women working full time, year round are paid only 79 cents for every dollar men are paid. The pay gap is even worse for mothers and women of color. African American women are typically paid just 63 percent of what white men are paid. Hispanic and Latina women face the largest gap, making 54 percent of white men’s earnings. For these women, it’s arguably more likely that their grandchildren will live with robots or walk on Mars than have fair pay.
For ourselves and our children, it’s time to pick up the pace in the fight for fair pay.
Founded in 1881, AAUW has been studying the gender pay gap since 1894, when we first analyzed the pay of college-educated women. Through the years, we’ve continued to conduct groundbreaking research on pay equity as well as advocate for policy and legislative action to close the pay gap. AAUW members were in the room when President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law in 1963. More recently, AAUW members worked tirelessly to help pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which was signed into law in 2009. It was a start, but the pay gap remains. And as trends show, it’s sticking around — that is, unless we act.
Equal pay shouldn’t be a dream for our great, great, great granddaughters. Agree? Lend a hand this #GivingTuesday!
Luckily, there are many things employers, individuals, and governments can do to help speed up the process, including supporting AAUW.When it comes to policy, we must continue to advocate for strong pay equity legislation, including the long-stalled Paycheck Fairness Act, as well as encourage employers to support flexible work schedules and conduct job audits to ensure fairness. AAUW also educates the public about the harm of the pay gap, and we hold national workshops to empower women to hone their salary negotiation skills. In September, we announced a collaboration with Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the Mayor’s Office of Women’s Advancement to bring AAUW’s Work Smart salary negotiation workshop to half the working women in Bostonover the next five years. These efforts are critical elements as we work to close the gender pay gap.
It’s been an uphill battle, but progress has occurred. We’ve made strides since the 1930s, when the federal government actually required that its female workers be paid 25 percent less than male workers in the same jobs. Back then, American women likely felt that the prospect of receiving a paycheck equal to a man’s was the stuff of science fiction. But groups like AAUW have helped lead the charge in policy and cultural shifts. Today, we have the power to make fair pay a reality — if we all take action and chip in.
Buckle up those jet packs. Equal pay, here we come.
🎂🎉 Happy Birthday to Us!🎉🎂
On November 28, 1881, Marion Talbot, then a recent graduate from Boston University, and Ellen Swallow Richards, the first woman professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, invited 15 alumnae from eight colleges to a meeting in Boston.
Discouraged by the lack of opportunities available to them, the women discussed how they would join together to help other women attend college and to assist those who had already graduated. And that’s how AAUW was born! 💪
We’re thankful for the women who founded AAUW and helped start a movement for gender equity. Here’s to another 134 years of empowering women and girls!
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was officially sworn in on November 4th, 2015, gives a very simple answer as to why he decided to have 15 men and 15 women on his cabinet.
We couldn’t agree more with Trudeau. It’s 2015! Women are valuable to the workplace and in leadership. We must continue to open doors and shatter ceilings!
Source: impossibletolove
Who needs ghost stories? There’s nothing scarier than real-life gender inequality.
Research shows that stereotypes and gender bias are largely to blame for keeping women out of leadership positions. Many states have yet to elect a woman governor or woman Senator, and only two women of color have ever served in the U.S. Senate. If we want change, it’s imperative that we train and empower women to run for office.
Who needs ghost stories? There’s nothing scarier than the gender pay gap.
As AAUW’s research shows, women of all walks of life experience the gender pay gap, and it’s even worse for women of color. At 63 cents to the dollar, that earnings ratio means it takes the typical black woman nearly seven extra months to be paid what the average white man took home back on December 31. Hispanic and Latina women face the worst pay disparity, getting paid only 54 percent of what white men get paid.
Read the full blog.
The 10 Scariest Pictures You’ll See This Halloween
Forget ghouls, goblins, and graveyards — these 10 statistics on women’s equality reflect a reality far scarier than whatever comes out to haunt on Halloween.
Read the full blog.
Great Scott! It's #BacktotheFutureDay, and women are still paid less than men!
When you account for all factors known to affect pay, women are still paid about 7 percent less than men just one year after graduating college — and the gap only grows from there, costing the average woman about $400,000 over the course of her career.
You don’t need a hoverboard to know we’re still living in the past! Take action now.
How would you like to have your paycheck cut in half? That’s the case for many Latina women in the United States.
Today is #LatinaEqualPay Day, the symbolic day when Latina’s earnings “catch up” to men’s earnings from the previous year.
Thanks to the gender pay gap, Latinas are paid 54 percent of what non-Hispanic white men are paid. That means it takes Latinas almost an entire extra year of full-time, year-round work in order to be paid what the average white man took home by December 31. Think about how that adds up over a lifetime, and we’re talking about losing a substantial chunk of change — change that could have greatly aided Latinas and their families.
Read the full blog post.
Happy International Day of the Girl! Together, we can create a better world for women and girls everywhere.
“We’re going to continue to fight to eliminate the pay gap. Equal pay for equal work. It’s an all-American idea.” —President Obama
Every woman deserves equal pay.
GOP candidates revealed which women they'd put on the $10 bill — and some of their answers were absurd
So, it seems many of the Republican presidential candidates need to add a lesson in American women’s history…#fail.
After being asked which woman they would put on the new $10 bill during the CNN debate Wednesday, many candidates decided against traditional and contemporary American heroines, opting instead for family members or women from foreign countries.
The “light-hearted” segment revealed the hard truth: many candidates vying for the white house had trouble appealing to the collective consciousness of women in homes across the nation.
The GOP candidates have spoken, now let your voice be heard…
→ Who do you think should be the face of the new $10 bill? Vote now!
Happy #NativeWomenEqualPay Day? Not really.
Today, September 8 marks Native American women’s equal pay day, the day that the wages of American Indian and Alaska Native women catch up to the money white men were paid last year. (It took about nine months, if you’re counting.)