The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was a landmark U.S. legislation mandating equal pay for equal work, in a measure to end gender-based disparity. The National War Labor Board first advocated equal pay for equal work in 1942, and an equal pay act was proposed in 1945. Eighteen years later, on June 10, 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law. It was enacted as an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which regulates minimum wages, overtime, and child labour.