Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
Equal pay is the law but not the reality in the United States. That's why, on Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) reintroduced the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would
update and close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act of 1963. This is one of those popular, necessary pieces of legislation that Democrats introduce in every Congress and
Republicans block in every Congress.
The reality the Paycheck Fairness Act is intended to change is a harsh one, as Jocelyn Frye of the Center for American Progress lays out:
Full-time, year-round working women today earn only 78 cents for every dollar earned by men. For women of color, the gender wage gap is even more stark: African American women make 64 cents, while Hispanic women make just 54 cents for every dollar earned by white males. This pay gap is more than just numbers: The economic consequences can be critical not only for women but also for their families by denying them much-needed income when they are trying to make ends meet. Compounding the gender wage gap is the lack of salary transparency, which often prevents women from discussing their salaries with their colleagues or obtaining the information needed to seek legal recourse to address pay discrimination.
And while fair pay legislation is a fantasy as long as Republicans control Congress, the Paycheck Fairness Act is just a small part of what women workers—and their families—need. As Vivien Labaton of Make It Work
says:
The bottom line is that women won’t have true equality at work until there are sensible workplace policies that support both women and men to participate in the workplace and be there for family. What does that look like? Making affordable childcare available to all families, and having access to paid sick days, as well as paid family leave for men and women.
But Republicans won't even agree to update a 1963 law to put some teeth in equal pay.