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Gender Equality? Women Still Paid Less Than Men

NEW YORK (CBS 2) -- What price equality? When it comes to salaries between men and women in New York – and nationwide – it's hardly a case of "separate but equal."

CBS 2's Scott Rapoport drops the dime on the money gap between guys and dolls.

Working women of New York work as hard as a man, and are as smart as a man, but on average get paid less.

"It's crazy. I don't know why that would be," Sharon Minick, of Hoboken, said.

"That's a travesty," Amy Kaneko said. "That's just not fair at all."

According to a study by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, full-time working women in New York made just 84 percent of what men did in 2009 - $720 a week for a woman, compared to $858 a week for a man.

"I'd like to make as much as a guy makes if I'm doing an equal amount of work," Margo Lewis, of Pittsburgh, said.

Nationally, the gap is even wider. Women average $657 a week across the country, while men earn an average of $819, despite calls at the highest level for equal pay.

"There are no second-class citizens in our workplaces," President Obama said. "It's bad for business to pay somebody less because of their gender."

"Corporate America needs to stop discriminating against women and understand the value they bring to the workforce," Sonia Ossorio, executive director of the National Organization for Women in New York, said.

Ossorio says change can happen, but it's going to take time.

"It's really about education and consciousness-raising, backed up by really good laws," Ossorio said.

Ossorio says women can improve their pay situation by tooting their own horn, mentioning their accomplishments and asking for what they want.

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