WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark (MA-05) voted in favor of the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation that would strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963, help eliminate the gender wage gap, and guarantee that women can challenge pay discrimination and hold employers accountable. The bill passed by a vote of 217-210.  

“Women have borne the brunt of the economic crisis brought on by the pandemic, and gender pay inequality is at the root of the problem. Today, we took a huge step forward to correct this injustice and ensure all people receive equal pay for equal work,” said Assistant Speaker Clark. “I ran for Congress in 2013 to improve economic opportunities for women and families, and as a freshman legislator, this bill was the first I cosponsored. With two million women forced out of work and families still struggling to get by, the Senate must immediately pass the Paycheck Fairness Act so President Biden can sign it into law. This bill is fundamental to our recovery and our ability to rebuild a just, inclusive economy for all Americans.”

“While progress has been made over the past few decades, the gender pay gap persists, denying women, and especially women of color, equal economic opportunity,” said Jennifer Benson, President of the progressive business organization the Alliance for Business Leadership. “These disparities cost Massachusetts women and the state’s economy over $14 billion per year. The Paycheck Fairness Act will empower and protect women in the workplace while providing clear guidance, resources, and best practices to businesses to help them comply with fair pay standards.” 

More than five decades after the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, women on average still make only 82 cents for every dollar earned by men. That gap is even wider for women of color. For every dollar made by a white man, Black women are paid 63 cents and Latina women are paid 55 cents. For a woman working full time, year-round, the current wage gap represents a loss of more than $400,000 over the course of her career. The wage gap impacts women’s ability to save for retirement and reduces their total Social Security and pension benefits, contributing to more older women living in poverty.

Pay inequity not only affects women – it affects children, families, and our economy as a whole. That is because women in this country are the sole or co-breadwinner in half of all families with children. Over the past two decades, women make a growing share of the family income in all family types.

The Paycheck Fairness Act, led by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), would strengthen and close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act of 1963 by holding employers accountable for discriminatory practices, ending the practice of pay secrecy, easing workers’ ability to individually or jointly challenge pay discrimination, and strengthening the available remedies for wronged employees. The House legislation has 225 cosponsors (every Democratic Member of the House and three Republican Members) and the Senate legislation, led by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), has 50 cosponsors. It is also included among President Biden’s gender equality priorities. 

The full text of this legislation is available here.

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