Without an increase in five years, minimum wage workers, 60 percent of whom are women, have experienced a sharp decline in real earnings. Over seventeen million Americans fall outside the federal provision and rely on inadequate state standards. Overtime and tipping laws are discussed. Social costs of maintaining the "working poor" outweigh…

Examines the following possible sources of measurement error in pay analysis and proposes methods to alleviate the problems: (1) choice of the number and type of job factors; (2) method of assigning values to each job factor; (3) method of selecting factor weights; and (4) political modifications made when a plan is implemented. (JS)

Despite the great influx of women into the labor market, the gap between men's and women's wages has remained stable at 40 percent since 1950. Analysis of labor data suggests that this has occurred because women's educational attainment compared to men has declined. Recently, however, the wage gap has begun to narrow, and this will probably become…

Discusses how gender differences in the value of pay, based on relative deprivation theory, explain women's paradoxical contentment with lower wages. Presents a model of pay satisfaction to integrate value-based and comparative-referent explanations of the relationship between gender and pay satisfaction. Discusses economic approaches to the…

The earnings gap is the difference between the percentage ratio of women's earnings to those of men and 100 percent. In 1988, the earnings gap for hourly earnings was 26 percent; for weekly earnings, 30 percent; and for annual earnings, 34 percent. Although the direction over the past decade is toward greater equality, the pace is extremely slow.…

Reviews the issue of pay equity and recent developments concerning the issue. Summarizes (1) arguments for and against pay equity, (2) court decisions, (3) the position of the current administration, and (4) the pending legislation. Includes a bibliography. (Author/CH)

This fact sheet addresses pay equity, that is, the goal of a fair wage-setting process that eliminates sex and race discrimination. It begins by setting forth the problem through statistics on men's and women's median annual earnings, the occupational categories represented by women workers, and median annual earnings by occupation. A glossary is…

Addresses the role of comparison processes in the persistence of the gender wage gap, its toleration by those disadvantaged by it, and resistance to comparable worth as a corrective strategy. Argues that gender segregation and undercompensation for women's jobs leads women to use different comparison standards when evaluating what they deserve.…

Young women perceive themselves today as equally entitled, active citizens of society. Women's interest in helping to shape politics and society has grown. The German Women's Council, an umbrella organization of about 100 German women's associations, commemorates this year the 100th anniversary of the death of Louise Otto-Peters, the founder of…

Examines wage-setting policies as different conceptualizations of fairness. Focuses on comparable worth as an alternative to existing wage-setting policies. Analyzes the contributions of social psychology research on distributive justice and procedural justice to understanding the determination of job worth and the dynamics of implementing…

Integrates the major conclusions of the papers on comparable worth in this special issue, and identifies additional relevant issues. Covers the following major topics: (1) history and conceptual issues; (2) social psychological aspects to pay equity; (3) job evaluation issues and applications; and (4) policy implementation and implications. (JS)

Argues that comparable worth is a necessary and feasible remedy for the systematic, sex-related pay inequities found in contemporary work situations. Discusses equal opportunity legislation and its effects on conventional compensation practices. Discusses the simplicity of implementing comparable worth. Refutes arguments against its necessity and…