Obama's one-dollar promise to women

One of the most important promises made by President Obama in his State of the Union address has been largely overlooked: his promise to crack down on violations of equal pay laws, so that women get equal pay for an equal day's work. The need for that is great. Despite the 47-year-old law that promises women equal pay, their earnings remain well below men's pay. They average only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, even though their work is obviously every bit as valuable to employers and society at large as the work of men. The pay discrepancy is even greater for women of color. African-American women earn 63 cents and Latinas 52 cents for every dollar earned by men. It's estimated that if women were granted equal pay, they could earn as much as $2 million more over the whole of their working lives. It's also estimated that if women were paid equally, the number of families living in poverty could be reduced by as much as half. Women's earnings are needed by most families, and in many cases, women are their family's only breadwinner.