“It is shameful that women today earn only 75 cents for every dollar that men earn.  In my home state of Illinois, it is even worse.  Women earn only 72 cents as compared to their male counterparts,” Schakowsky said.

“Some say that this is an improvement from the past and I agree.  However, I see the glass as a quarter empty and not three-quarters full.  Pay inequity hurts women and their families and robs them of hundreds of thousands of dollars in income and retirement over their lifetime.  Eliminating this inequity is nothing short of a national priority,” Schakowsky added.  

Nationally, women earn 75 cents for every dollar that men earn.  African American women earn 65 cents for every dollar a man earns.  And Latina women earn only 58 cents for every dollar that a man earns.  In Illinois, women earn 72 cents for every dollar that a man earns.  Women of color earn 62 cents for every dollar earned by men.  

“A working woman’s family loses on average $4000 each year due to this inequity.  And in Illinois, women lose on average $4,913 a year.   The inequity compounds over the years.  A 25-year-old working woman will lose $523,000 during her lifetime as a result of this wage gap.  And when she retires, she will collect a smaller pension and less Social Security,” Schakowsky said. 

Schakowsky and her colleagues called on Education and the Workforce Committee Chairmen William Goodling (R-PA) to follow the Senate lead and hold hearings on equal pay issues.  They also urged Congress to pass of H.R. 541, the Paycheck Fairness Act.  The legislation would strengthen the Equal Pay Act by putting wage discrimination based on gender in the same legal category as wage discrimination based on race or ethnicity.  This coming Sunday is the 37th anniversary of the signing of the Equal Pay Act.