Today, Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Representative Lois Frankel (FL-21), and Rep. Brenda Lawrence (MI-14) led 138 Members in introducing a resolution to highlight Equal Pay Day on March 24, the day when women’s earnings from last year finally catch up to what men earned in 2020.

The average woman working full-time, year-round will make 82 cents for every dollar her male counterpart makes—a disparity that’s even worse for women of color. If current trends continue, Asian women are projected to close the gender pay gap in 22 years, white women in 50 years, Black women in 350 years, and Latinas in 432 years.

“Job loss resulting from the coronavirus pandemic has disproportionately impacted women, and the discrepancy is worse for women of color. It is now more important than ever that we recognize Equal Pay Day and take action to close the wage gap by passing the Paycheck Fairness Act. The concept is simple: men and women in the same job deserve the same pay. It is long past time we make equal pay a reality,” said Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro.

“Women go to work for similar reasons as men – to take care of their families, to add value to their communities, express their talents, and retire in dignity. The lack of economic parity is caused by numerous social and health issues that must be tackled,” said Rep. Frankel, Co-Chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus.

“It’s unacceptable that in 2021, we are still discussing whether or not women should be paid equally to men. Let this resolution be a clear message that women and men should undoubtedly be paid equally. On Equal Pay Day, we recommit ourselves to the fight for equal pay,” said Rep. Lawrence, Co-Chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus. “This is an economic justice issue. Women have borne the brunt of this pandemic, and it’s worse for Black women and other women of color. With the lack of equal pay, the economic recovery for women will be a lot slower. Women in Michigan and across the country deserve equal pay for equal work.”

The gender wage gap collectively costs women employed full-time in the United States more than $956 billion in annual lost wages, meaning families have less money to spend on goods and services that help drive economic growth. For a woman working full-time, the wage gap represents a loss of more than $400,000 over a career.

The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women and women of color, with women losing the majority of jobs lost since March 2020, leaving the workforce at three times the rate as men for child care purposes, and with women and women of color experiencing the lowest rates of employment in decades.

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