Data from the US Census Bureau reveals that a gender-based wage gap affects women throughout Nebraska.
Leticia Mederos is the Vice President for Work Family and Workplace Fairness Programs at the National Partnership for Women and Families.
She says the data shows Nebraska women make, on average, 79 cents for every dollar Nebraska men make.
She says the lost income affects women’s buying power and the ability to pay their bills. Mederos supports what's known as the Paycheck Fairness Act, which she says would establish stronger workplace protections for women.
"It would allow women to take legal action if they have a sense that maybe they are getting discriminated against. And if there’s a course of action in the courts, then employers would have to justify pay differences.”
More information on the wage gap and the Paycheck Fairness Act is availablehere.