Schakowsky Votes to Ensure Equal Pay for Equal Work

SCHAKOWSKY VOTES TO ENSURE EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today voted for the Paycheck Fairness Act, H.R. 1338, which will help end the discriminatory practice of paying a woman less than a man for performing the same job. The Paycheck Fairness Act, which passed by a vote of 247 to 178, will strengthen the landmark Equal Pay Act and close the loopholes that have allowed some employers to avoid responsibility for discriminatory pay.

Congressman Schakowsky entered the following statement into the Congressional Record in support of the Paycheck Fairness Act.

"Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1338, the Paycheck Fairness Act. I am an original cosponsor of this bill because I believe it is time that we end gender discrimination in the workplace. I want to thank my friend and colleague, Representative Rosa DeLauro, for sponsoring H.R. 1338 and for her strong passion and commitment to working women.

The Paycheck Fairness Act addresses one of the most evident and detrimental aspects of gender discrimination: wage disparity. As we know from the U.S. Census Bureau, women across the country earn, on average, only 77 cents for every dollar a man receives for the same work. That 23-cent difference can add up to between $400,000 and $2 million over a working lifetime. In Illinois, where the average working woman earns 75 cents for every dollar earned by a man, the wage gap and the cost to women is even larger.

In today's economy, wage discrimination hits women particularly hard, whether they are the heads of households or the second or even third wage earner in a family. With higher food, energy, health care, transportation and housing costs, women are struggling to stretch every dollar in order to meet their family's needs. Wage discrimination unfairly shrinks those dollars, especially for women of color and self-employed women who suffer from a higher-than-average wage gap. It deprives women of dollars that they have earned but, because of the paycheck gap, do not get.

While there are many economic arguments for H.R. 1338, there are other considerations as well. I urge my colleagues to consider the views of the American Psychological Association, which argues that wage discrepancies create economic disadvantages that "affect the psychological and physical health of women and their families.... As the APA says, "The link between depression and low-income women can be attributed to increased stress caused by living in poverty, as well as minimal social support. Additionally, low-income pregnant women receive less prenatal care, and are more likely to deliver low-birth weight babies....

We should pass H.R. 1338 to ensure that women are fairly paid for their work, not economically disadvantaged because of their gender. We should pass H.R. 1338 because it will help families deal with the current economic crisis. We should pass H.R. 1338 because it will have positive health impacts for women and families. It is the right thing to do, and I urge my colleagues to support it....}