DeLauro Marks Equal Pay Day

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) released the following statements today marking Equal Pay Day, the day that women finally make the same amount that their male counterparts made the previous year. Women working full-time, year-round make an average of only 78 cents for every dollar earned by a man.

“The single biggest economic issue facing American families today is that too many jobs do not pay enough to live on. Equal pay is a crucial part of the solution to this problem. Paying women the same as their male counterparts would mean more money for gas, more food on the table, more money in the college fund and more spending to support our economy.

“Congress needs to act and extend real, enforceable pay equity protection to all women. I am proud to be the author of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would finish the job started by the Equal Pay Act. It has passed the House of Representatives twice, with bipartisan support, and fell just two votes shy of breaking a filibuster in the Senate. President Obama has thrown his support behind the bill and said he would sign it into law. It is the smart thing to do and the right thing to do. We need to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act today.”

Women comprise half the workforce and are two-thirds of co- or primary breadwinners. The wage gap exists even after controlling for a number of factors, including education. For example, a recent report showed that male nurses make $5,100 more on average annually than their female colleagues.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would require employers to show pay disparity is truly related to job-performance, not gender. It also prohibits employer retaliation for sharing salary information with coworkers. Under current law employers can sue and punish employees for sharing such information. In addition, it strengthens remedies for pay discrimination by increasing compensation women can seek, allowing them to seek both back pay and punitive damages for pay discrimination.


###