Final answer:
The claim that the Equal Pay Act of 1963 has not impacted the gender pay gap is false. The legislation has indeed reduced the gender wage gap, but a disparity still exists, with women earning 77-81% of what men earn for equal work, though when controlled for certain variables this gap can appear smaller.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement 'The Equal Pay Act of 1963 has not impacted the gender pay gap' is false. The Equal Pay Act was landmark legislation aimed to address the wage disparity between men and women. While it mandated equal pay for equal work, evidence suggests the gender pay gap persists, albeit reduced. A 2013 report by the National Equal Pay Taskforce indicated women earned 77 cents to a dollar compared to men, and by 2020, according to Payscale, this number was 81 cents on the dollar.
Furthermore, a 2007 Department of Labor study acknowledging the impact of these laws discovered that when controlling for variables like education and work experience, the gender wage gap dropped to about 5%. This implies that while the Equal Pay Act has certainly had a positive impact, there is still a gap attributable to various factors, including potentially gender discrimination. It's also worth noting that some wage differences can be explained by life and career choices, but these choices may be constrained by gender discrimination, highlighting the complexities in measuring the true extent of the wage gap.