Woolsey Calls On Congress To Immediately Address Wage Gap Between Men And Women
Press Release
Woolsey Calls on Congress to Immediately Address Wage Gap Between Men and Women
On the heels of a report citing growing wage discrepancies between men and women Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma) today called on her colleagues in Congress to immediately pass H.R. 1338, The Paycheck Fairness Act. The legislation, which Woolsey cosponsored, would bridge the wage gap, by helping to ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work.
"Over forty years ago President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law to guarantee that women received the same pay for the same work as their male counterparts," Woolsey said. "Unfortunately, as today's report shows, the pay gap between men and women remains."
The report, issued Tuesday by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, found that women earn 77 cents to the dollar when compared with their male colleagues, for the same work. While this is up from 59 cents on the dollar when the Equal Pay Act was signed into law in 1963, it averages to an incredibly weak increase of only half a cent a year. The researchers found that the pay gap begins early, and increases steadily. While female college graduates are likely to earn 80 cents on the dollar when compared to their male classmates, ten years later they can expect to earn only 69 cents to every dollar that is made to their male colleagues.
"As a former single mother, who depended on welfare to bridge low wage and the needs of my three children, I know what it feels like to have a family depend on a single source of income, a job that, as this report shows, becomes increasingly difficult for women. This report is not only severely troubling, it is nothing short of a national embarrassment," Woolsey said. "I will continue to work with my colleagues in Washington to confront this issue head on, and ensure that all Americans, regardless of gender, receive an equal paycheck for an equal day's work."
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