A bill providing for equal pay for equal work for women applicable to all goods and services in interstate commerce was signed by President Kennedy on June 10, 1963, and will become effective one year from that date.
Of the 23,443,000 women employed in the United States, it is reasonable to assume that at least the 5,096,000 who are single and the 4,581,000 with “absent” husbands (a total of 9,677,000) must work and that adequate compensation for their work is, therefore, most important to them. However, state employment services and private employment agencies affirm the fact that employers offer a higher rate to a male worker for the identical job for which they offer a lesser rate to a female employee.
Furthermore, only 22 of the 50 states of the United States now have “equal pay for equal work” laws. The National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods, convened in Biennial Assembly in Chicago, Illinois, November 17-20, 1963, on behalf of its United States units, expresses appreciation to the President and the Congress of the United States for this long-overdue elimination of economic discrimination based solely on the sex of the worker and urges its members to study the laws in their respective states to educate themselves and others on the need for this type of legislation to support such legislation where necessary.