The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

The gap between the wages of men and women work for the federal government has declined over the last 20 years, according to a report released today by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).  In 2007, women made 89 cents for every dollar made by men in 2007, up from 72 cents in 1988.

The report, titled "Women's Pay: Gender Pay Gap in the Federal Workforce Narrows as Differences in Occupation, Education, and Experience Diminish," attributes the decline to the fact that men and women are now more likely to have the same level of education, the same years of experience working in the federal government, and are more likely to hold the same type of jobs at all levels of the federal workforce.

The report's release today comes as many Americans celebrate Equal Pay Day.

First celebrated in 1996, the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) created Equal Pay Day to call attention to disparities in salary between men and women.  Each year it is observed on a Tuesday in April because that is the day in which an average woman's earnings catch up with a man's from the previous week. This year, President Obama declared April 28 as National Equal Pay Day.

Despite the relative good news of the GAO report, in the general workforce, full-time working women currently make approximately 78 cents for every dollar that men make – and the gap is even greater for women of color.