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"The President&amp;#x27;s State of the Union address last night was similar to that of previous years&amp;amp;mdash;a list of policy goals and a big push for Congress to take action. But this year, there was a clear focus on women&amp;amp;mdash;not just on what we still need (equal pay, paid sick days, etc.) but also a nod to the crucial roles women play, from the female entrepreneur to the single mom. Let&amp;#x27;s start with the pay gap. It&amp;#x27;s no secret that women still earn less than men&amp;amp;mdash;I wrote recently how even millennial women, while narrowing the divide, continue to earn less than their male counterparts. The President touched on the wage gap very specifically, saying, &amp;quot;Today, women make up about half our workforce. But they still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. That is wrong, and in 2014, it&amp;#x27;s an embarrassment.&amp;quot; He followed up by touching on another subject we&amp;#x27;ve been talking about here, paid leave and how it&amp;#x27;s good for everyone. &amp;quot;A woman deserves equal pay for equal work,&amp;quot; the President said. &amp;quot;She deserves to have a baby without sacrificing her job. A mother deserves a day off to care for a sick child or sick parent without running into hardship&amp;amp;mdash;and you know what, a father does too. It&amp;#x27;s time to do away with workplace policies that belong in a Mad Men episode. This year, let&amp;#x27;s all come together&amp;amp;mdash;Congress, the White House, and businesses from Wall Street to Main Street&amp;amp;mdash;to give every woman the opportunity she deserves. Because I firmly believe when women succeed, America succeeds.&amp;quot; But what does this really mean for women? Well, according to the latest Shriver Report, women make up close to two thirds of minimum-wage workers in the U.S. And upwards of 70 percent of those low-wage workers receive no paid sick days whatsoever. Short answer: It means a lot. We need to stop asking&amp;amp;#8212;and start demanding. While the President asked the joint session to raise the minimum wage last year in the State of the Union address and signed an executive order raising wages for federal contractors, it remains up to Congress to raise the minimum wage nationwide. The current Congress has consistently voted down raising the minimum wage, claiming it will slow job creation and hurt business owners. The President brought up Costco repeatedly in his speech because the company pays its workers well and offers health care and retirement, all while managing to make a profit. The GOP response to the State of the Union came from Congresswoman Cathy McMorris (R-Wash.), who spoke about the inequality of opportunity facing the country. Miss the action last night? You can check out the President&amp;#x27;s SOTU address in full here: "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/inspired/blogs/the-conversation/2014/01/the-state-of-the-union-when-wo>