Observing Equal Pay Day

Floor Speech

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Mr. DEUTCH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to observe Equal Pay Day, the day when women's wages finally catch up to men's.

Fifty three years after passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, women and minorities continue to experience inequitable pay differentials. In fact, women who work full time, year round in the United States were paid only 79 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts in 2014. In Florida, a woman who holds a full-time job is paid, on average, $34,768 per year while a man who holds a full-time job is paid $40,971 per year. For minorities, the gap is even larger.

This equates to a combined 17 billion dollars loss of wages annually for Florida women with full-time jobs. These lost wages mean Floridian families have fewer resources to buy goods and services. The wage gap directly hurts Florida's families and our economy.

If change continues at the same slow pace as it has during the last 50 years, it will take nearly 50 more years--until 2059--for women and men to finally reach pay parity.

I join the Enterprising and Professional Women of South Florida in observing Equal Pay Day and calling attention to the continuing wage disparity women in our nation and state face.

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