“On Friday, President Obama will also call on Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation introduced in the Senate by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and in the House by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (R-Conn.). The bill would force employers to prove pay disparities are truly based on performance, not gender.
According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, women make up almost half of the workforce, are the main breadwinner in four out of 10 families and receive more college and graduate degrees than men, but make only 79 cents for every dollar earned by men .
Lilly Ledbetter, for whom the fair pay act was named after, made 40 percent less than her male colleagues at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. over the course of her career and as a result she now has less to live on in retirement since social security and employer 401K matches are based on how much a person makes.”