Mission-Focused Congressional Updates

Got Sick Days? Healthy Families Act Reintroduced

In March, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT) introduced the Healthy Families Act, a bill that would provide full-time employees with seven paid sick days per year to be used for their own medical needs or to take care of a child, spouse, or parent who is ill. Part-time employees would receive a prorated share of paid sick days. Currently, nearly half of all private-sector workers, including nearly 22 million women, have no paid sick days, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

If you have not already done so, please use AAUW’s Two-Minute Activist online to urge the members of your congressional delegation to co-sponsor and support the Healthy Families Act. For more information, you can also read AAUW’s media release about the bill’s reintroduction.

http://capwiz.com/aauw/home/http://capwiz.com/aauw/home/

Paycheck Fairness Act Introduced

In March, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT) introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that would eliminate loopholes that have undermined the full potential of the Equal Pay Act’s effectiveness. The Paycheck Fairness Act would clarify acceptable reasons for differences in pay and would require employers to prove that wage gaps between men and women are not a result of gender discrimination.

Please use AAUW’s Two-Minute Activist online to urge the members of your congressional delegation to co-sponsor and support the Paycheck Fairness Act.

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New Research Report Scheduled for Release on Equal Pay Day!

Behind the Pay Gap, a new report from the AAUW Educational Foundation, is scheduled for release on Equal Pay Day, April 24, 2007. Using data from the U.S. Department of Education, the report shows that even when women and men hold similar college credentials and work full time in the same fields, women earn less than men do as early as one year after graduation. The gender pay gap continues to widen in the first 10 years after graduation.

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AAUW Pay Equity Resource Kit

Equal Pay Day is Tuesday, April 24. Visit the pay equity resource page on AAUW’s website, where you’ll find the updated
AAUW Pay Equity Resource Kit (PDF). The kit contains resources that AAUW branches and states can use to raise awareness of the pay gap in their communities and to advocate for pay equity. Equal Pay Day symbolizes the day on which women’s average wages catch up to men’s from the previous year.

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