DeLauro Releases Video on Equal Pay Day, Valuing Women’s Work Amid Coronavirus

WASHINGTON, D.C. — (March 31, 2020) Today, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) released a video on Equal Pay Day highlighting the disparity between women and men's wages and the need for equal pay. The full video can be found here, and below is her statement as delivered:

Hello, this is Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. Today is Equal Pay Day: the day that symbolizes how far into the year the average woman needs to work in order to catch up to what their male counterparts made in the previous year.

Women earn, on average, 82 cents for every dollar that a man makes. And that gender pay gap is even bigger for women of color. That is wrong. Women's work needs to be valued the same as men's—especially as we deal with the coronavirus pandemic. Two-thirds of low wage workers are women, and their work is essential today and every day. Women are disproportionately on the frontlines as healthcare workers, food service workers, grocery store cashiers, and caregivers. Our country owes them equal pay for equal work.

The solution is simple: women and men in the same job deserve the same pay. That principle is at the core of my bill, the Paycheck Fairness Act. We passed Paycheck Fairness in the House of Representatives in more than a year ago—but it is stalled in the Senate as Mitch McConnell refused to even debate it on the floor.

Paycheck Fairness would make real progress in the fight to eliminate the gender wage gap through five key provisions. First, it would hold employers accountable for discrimination. Second, it ends the practice of pay secrecy. Third, it eases workers' ability to challenge pay discrimination. Fourth, it strengthens the available remedies for wronged employees. And fifth, it prohibits employers from asking about prospective employees' salary history.

I will continue to fight for all women across the country until the Paycheck Fairness Act until it becomes the law of the land, especially at this critical time for our country.

Thank you.

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