Washington, DC – Today, on Equal Pay Day, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) co-sponsored the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would take the steps necessary to eliminate gender-based wage discrimination.  Under this legislation, the Department of Labor would enhance outreach and training programs to work with employers to eliminate pay disparities; employees could share salary information with their co-workers; and women would be allowed to sue for punitive damages, in addition to compensatory damages now available under the Equal Pay Act.

Equal Pay Day represents the day of the year on which the wages paid to American women “catch up” to the wages paid to men from the previous year. This year, with women still earning only about 77 percent of what men did in 2003, Equal Pay Day is on April 20.  Over the course of their career, working women stand to lose $250,000 because of unequal pay practices, according to the National Committee on Pay Equity.

In 2003, African American women and other women of color fared even more poorly – African Americans made only 66 cents on the dollar compared to the highest earners (white men), while Hispanic women made only 54 cents.    

“Over the past three decades, we have made strides in closing the wage gap between women and men, but as these numbers indicate, we still have a very long way to go,” said Lee.  “It is absolutely unconscionable and inexcusable that women and especially minority women earn a fraction of what men earn for the same job. We must eradicate this unfair treatment.”


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