Studies indicate these potential sources of wage differentials between women and men: women have different skills and qualifications; they work in the same jobs and establishments and have equal qualifications but receive unequal pay; and they work in different jobs or establishments, where pay is low, but have qualifications similar to men working where pay is higher. Differential hiring and employment patterns suggest occupational segregation is an important explanation of the wage gap. Extent of female dominance in an occupation affects its pay rate, net of such factors as differences in qualifications of job incumbents, differences in job requirements, and differences in characteristics of occupations or industries. Discrimination causes women's families to lose because of lower income and causes women to under-invest in themselves and reduce their educational attainment and skill development. The Fair Pay Act offers a remedy to effectively raise women's wages in female-dominated jobs. A study of 20 state governments that implemented pay equity wage adjustments in their civil services has found the following: (1) state-made pay adjustments addressed the problem of unequal pay effectively; (2) states that targeted specific underpaid female-dominated jobs spent a relatively small portion of their total wage bill on pay equity adjustments; and (3) these remedies did not have the unfortunate side effects many economists predicted. (Contains 19 endnotes.) (YLB)