Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Case Study

The business world during the 1990s was forty-seven percent female, and fifty-three percent male (Mulligan). Surprisingly, however, the percent of women entering the workplace has stalled. In the early 2000’s the percent of women that worked peaked at seventy-seven percent, and has yet to change from that, still, this is a huge increase compared to the amount of working women in the early 1900s. Unfortunately, it is estimated that women make seventy-seven cents per dollar, compared to men. Black women make roughly sixty-four percent per dollar in comparison to men. (NWLC). In 2009, which was only six years ago, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was created. The act was constructed to attempt to alleviate the wage gap of working women and men. The Lilly Ledbetter act allows women to sue for compensation, if they discover they are being paid less than a man working the same job as them.

This is an ongoing problem, and one that businesses today as well as future businesses have to fix. Diversity is not changing; women in the workplace are not changing either. Therefore, in order to ensure businesses are diverse, companies must continue to hire women; however, they need to also ensure these women are paid properly. Today in 2015, women are getting careers they could only dream about in the early 1900s and before. There are more doctors, professors, writers, dentists, lawyers, than ever. However, women are still misrepresented in areas such as Congress and the top positions in the business world, such as CEO’s, board members, and executives. While the movement for women has been a long battle, the battle is far from over. Diversity is necessary and will be necessary for years to come. Therefore, the equality of women in the workplace is just as