The Democrats will reportedly submit legislation to call for equal pay between men and women, although the wage gap concept has been considered highly misleading.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the Democratic Women’s Caucus held a press conference Friday to announce the introduction of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would reinforce the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 amended the Fair Labor Standards Act to protect women against wage discrimination.
Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington reintroduced the bill, which passed the house in 2021.
“Men and women in the same job deserve the same pay,” DeLauro said, “It is a simple concept that has eluded so many in our workforce for far too long. It is time that ends. We must enact the Paycheck Fairness Act to close the expanding pay gap and give women the necessary tools to dispute pay discrimination in their workplace.”
#PeopleOverPolitics means Equal Pay for Equal Work. Watch my #EqualPayDay press conference with @RepJeffries, @WhipKClark, & Congressional Leaders: https://t.co/m9jxX0wIFr
— Rep. Lois Frankel (@RepLoisFrankel) March 10, 2023
“Women across our country are still being paid less than their male counterparts, still being shortchanged, and it’s time we finally take action to close the wage gap,” said Murray said. “When we talk about the wage gap, we are ultimately talking about huge, life-changing amounts of pay that women are being cheated out of. Women are paying the price of inaction, and we have to put a stop to sexist pay practices—for good.”
According to the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), the gender wage gap is “derived by taking the total annual earnings of men in the American economy in a given year and dividing that by the number of male workers.” However, although this shows and earnings gap, it does not reveal discriminatory intent by employers. According Bureau of Labor Statistics data collected by FEE, men and women tend to work different types of jobs, which also contribute to the overall earnings gap. Women make up 94% of child daycare workers, a career that pays $23,760 on average. Men make up over 95% of those in the logging industry, a job that pays $42,310.