Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–April 12, 2016. Today, Representative Jan Schakowsky released the following statement on Equal Pay day, which is the point every year when a woman has finally earned the same yearly salary as their male counterpart:
“It is simply unacceptable that in the year 2016, women are still paid less because they are women. On average, women earn 79 cents for every dollar earned by men. For women of color it is worse. African- American women are paid 60 cents and Latinas are paid 55 cents for every dollar earned by men. By the age of 65, the average woman will have lost a staggering $480,480 throughout her working life due to this gender-based pay gap. With most families relying on women’s wages for all or a large part of family income, gender-based pay discrimination means family budgets are stretched even tighter and paying for every day necessities becomes even more difficult.
“This work pay gap translates into lost pensions and lower Social Security benefits, following women into retirement. The Joint Economic Committee Democratic staff report, “Gender Pay Inequality,” found that women collectively receive $324 million less in retirement income than men. The same report also found that women 75 years or older are nearly twice as likely to live in poverty during retirement than men.
“Every single House Democrat is committed to ensuring equal pay for equal work. Every one of my Democratic colleagues has signed to the Paycheck Fairness Act to ensure that women are no longer paid less just because of their gender. We also must ensure that women join unions in their workplace. When women join unions they are not paid less due to their gender and they will be able to enjoy a more secure retirement.
“This Equal Pay Day we must continue the fight to ensure that being a woman doesn’t mean less pay and greater insecurity in retirement. Let’s end the gender pay gap now.”
Source: http://www.schakowsky.house.gov
