WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today joined her Democratic
colleagues in demanding that Congress pass stalled legislation to end the
pay disparity between working men and women. April 16, 2002 is Equal
Pay Day.
“We
are a nation that has put a person on the moon and invented personal computers,
yet we cannot make the simple guarantee that women will earn equal pay
as men for equal work,” Schakowsky said.
Schakowsky
called on Congress to pass HR 781, the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would
improve wages for women and families by:
-
Enhancing
equal pay requirements for employers;
-
Closing
employer loopholes under current equal pay law;
-
Increasing
investment in enforcement of wage discrimination claims; and
-
Rewarding
employers who make strides in eliminating pay disparities.
Women
earn 72 cents for every dollar a man earns. In communities of color,
the gap is wider: African American women earn 67 cents for each dollar
and Latinas earn only 54 cents for each dollar a man earns. Over a working
lifetime, the wage disparity costs the average American woman an estimated
$250,000 – that means it costs most American families $250,000. For
Black families the loss is $360,000 and for Latino families it’s $510,000.
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