What kind of legislation can make a difference for young women in the workforce?
The equal pay legislation, the pay equity legislation, I’m hopeful that we’ll have younger women supporting it and coming out and trying to persuade, particularly the United States Senate, to move forward on it. Because it really does affect them very, very directly. But that would put real teeth into the equal pay act of 1963. It would allow—today, employers can retaliate against women if they talk amongst themselves about their job—it prohibits employers from doing that. It also allows the department of labor to begin to collect statistics about men and women’s wages. It also would have training as part of this effort in order that women could hone those negotiating skills. Oftentimes that’s a very, very serious drawback: They sit and don’t negotiate on their own behalf in terms of higher wages. What will it take for Congress to vote on the Equal Pay Act? We have done it in the House of Representatives. We’ve voted on it twice. It’s now in the Senate, and I have confidence in both Se
