Equal pay is fundamental for women’s success in the new economy

  In recent months, opponents of strengthening equal pay protections have parroted a common refrain from the Trump administration and its supporters by focusing on the fact that women gained 58 percent—or roughly 1.5 million—of all new private sector jobs created in 2018. They tout this singular piece of data as evidence that the economy must be working well for women and their wages. However, this talking point obscures and oversimplifies the diverse experiences of working women—particularly women of color—and ignores why equal pay is so critical to women’s economic progress. Women’s full participation in the economy is indeed vital to U.S. economic growth and gender equality. Yet women must also have access to quality, well-paying jobs in which they have a fair chance in order to succeed and maximize their contributions to their families and the economy.