The Equal Pay Act in the United States was in 1963 was the first major government initiative that attempted to get equal wages for men and women in the workplace. But, forty-five years later in 2008 a poll was done in sixty-three developed countries that states that women are still making only about 85% of what men do on average. Some people strongly believe that not enough is being done to bring these numbers closer together, while others argue that progress is being made little by little.

If you're a woman working in a full or part time job, it is likely you are doing as much work as your male colleague across the hall or in the office down the street. So why is equal work not getting equal pay? Well, to examine that we must look back to the more traditional roles of men and women. Up until the 20th century it was understood that women were to stay at home with the children while men went off to work to earn money for the family. While you will now see women working in all manner of jobs, from being CEOs of major companies to working in a pediatric dental clinic (much like this one for example), you will find that there are still less women that want to work fulltime hours than men and that women tend to take more time off during their working years.

Statistics also show that while women lose wages when they have children, men with kids actually make about two percent more than their childless counterparts. Because of the amount of time that even modern women choose to stay at home they have less work experience on average then men and are more flexible in their work schedules. This makes it easier for them to be promoted within an office or within a group of agents.

While this is all true, one cannot ignore that significant change has happened over the years in terms of women working. Just seven years ago the figures showed that women made about eighty percent of what men did. That means there has been a five percent increase in less than a decade. This factors in every race, age, and position from those working as a taxi driver to those in advertising.

In Canada, pay equality is required by law within each workplace. This permits a difference in pay based on merit or seniority but does not allow for a man to make more than a woman with the same credentials within the same company. If two people are hired at the same time to work for the same company with identical resumes they are required to have the same starting salary.

More websites regarding equal pay for both men and women:

Labour.gov.on.ca
Eeoc.gov
Time.com