Pay equity law hailed 30 years later

When payday rolls around again, the average woman in the United States will earn about 77 cents for every dollar earned by her male counterparts.

That may not sound that good. But the wage gap has closed in recent years, especially in Minnesota. That's partly due to a bill that was passed about three decades ago called the State Employees Pay Equity Act of 1982. It required that state public workers be paid equally for the same jobs, regardless of whether they were men or women.

MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke about that with Nina Rothchild, the former director of the Council on the Economic Status of Women. She was instrumental in getting the law passed and later served as state Commissioner of the Department of Employee Relations.

She also spoke about a celebration of the pay equity bill, that will be held at the State Capitol today.