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Equal Pay Day
Mr. President, on a related note, it was 60 years ago that John Kennedy, as President, signed the Equal Pay Act. The law was simple. Here is what it said: Women should not be paid less than men for the same work--simple. Yet, 60 years later, we are still not there--60 years.
Today is Equal Pay Day in America. Let me tell you what that means. This is the day when the average American woman will finally earn as much as the average man did last year. In other words, on average, it takes women 15\1/2\ months to earn as much as men do in America in 12 months.
The pay gap persists despite the law I told you about. Here is the reality: Women in America are still paid less than men even when they do exactly the same job. On average, a woman in America makes 82 cents for every dollar a man makes. This means that women who work full time year-round lose up to $400,000 over the course of their working lives. When you include part-time and seasonal workers, women make only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. The pay gap gets even wider for women of color, who lose up to $1 million over the course of their working lives. And less pay during your working years means less retirement income, we all know.
Apologists offer all kinds of explanations and justifications, but the persistent pay gap among men and women is sexism, plain and simple. And it doesn't just hurt women; it hurts their families, who depend on them. Additionally, while men's wages rise throughout their lives, women's wages rise more slowly, and the gap widens if they have children.
President Biden's budget proposal contains a number of important measures that will help working families make ends meet. It includes affordable childcare--what a high priority that is for every working parent--and paid family and medical leave so that women, who are also primary caregivers in most families, don't have to stop working to care for a loved one.
But those measures, as necessary as they are, will not close the inexcusable pay gap for women. We need to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, closing loopholes in equal pay after finally giving women the tools they need to hold employers accountable if they break equal pay laws.
House and Senate Democrats reintroduced this essential legislation last week. I want to thank my colleague Senator Patty Murray, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, in particular for her leadership on this issue.
We are committed to passing the Paycheck Fairness Act, and we need Republicans to make it happen. If they believe in fairness, as I think we all do, if you care about the financial security of working families, stand with us, and let's finally pass this bill.
I yield the floor.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Oklahoma.
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 169, No. 47
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
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