Talk:Equal pay for equal work

Grace Greenwood contribution
I think it should be noted in the article that American writer and suffragist "Grace Greenwood" (pen name of Sara Jane Clarke Lippincott) wrote the precursor to the phrase "equal pay for equal work."

In her article defending Susan B. Anthony and women's rights, Grace Greenwood wrote for the New York Times on June 30, 1873:

"I do not say that equal pay for equal services will never be accorded to women, even in the civil service, till she has the ballot to back her demand; but that is the private opinion of many high Government officials." (emphasis added)

This shows that the debate over whether women could secure equal compensation was tethered to the right to vote existed for at least two decades before Carrie Ashton Johnson's article, as well as the phrasing for equal pay. Grace Greenwood was one of the most prolific and popular writers of the 1800s; given Carrie Ashton Johnson's familiarity with the history of women suffrage, it's very likely she was familiar with Grace Greenwood and Greenwood's use of this phrase.

"equal pay for equal services" is nearly identical to "equal pay for equal work." It is likely that Carrie Ashton Johnson updated the wording of the phrase Greenwood originally published.

I think that "equal pay for equal services" is historically significant, and should be included.

Source: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1873/06/30/79959388.html?pageNumber=5 MistyLGKM (talk) 21:52, 30 May 2024 (UTC)