Urge Congress to act on Disabled Women’s Equal Pay Day! SIGN NOW

Dear Friend,

Today marks a historic moment for the pay equity movement. It's the first-ever Disabled Women's Equal Pay Day. 

This moment is met with both immense gratitude for the tireless work disability justice advocates and organizations have done to make this possible and also, great frustration for the fact that this day has to exist at all. 

Help highlight this historic day by urging Congress to act on Disabled Women’s Equal Pay Day!

What’s happening? 

Disabled women, on average, earn just half of what nondisabled men are paid in a year.¹ Disabled women working full-time earn 67 cents for every dollar earned by nondisabled men in the same job. And why is this happening? Glad you asked! The disabled women's wage gap stems from a long history of ableism, institutionalization, and workplace discrimination. Women of color often face even wider wage gaps, due to racism and classism. In fact, for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic nondisabled men:² 

• American Indian/Alaska Native disabled women are paid 45 cents, 
• Black disabled women are paid 45 cents; and 
• Disabled Latinas are paid 44 cents.

That's why we are urging Congress to support disabled women. They must pass key laws to improve workplaces and lift families. We need your help to urge Congress to act now and pass the following pieces of legislation:

• Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act: Ending segregated workplaces and subminimum wages for disabled women.
• SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act: Ending forced poverty by eliminating harsh public benefit rules that keep disabled women from working while getting the support they need to survive.
• HCBS Access Act: Expanding funding for disabled women, who both give and receive care, to live and work in our communities instead of being trapped in institutions.

Help highlight this historic day by urging Congress to act on Disabled Women’s Equal Pay Day!

Reports show some disabled people earn below the federal minimum wage. This is due to an exception in the Fair Labor Standards Act. This exception aimed to boost employment for disabled people. But it has left them trapped in poverty, working in segregated workplaces.³ This is unacceptable! We need your help to fight these discriminatory practices!

For years, we've been fighting for more inclusive data. Data that would better represent our country's people and communities. Because by measuring the disabled women’s pay gap, and talking about it is part of how we close that wage gap. 

And YOU have had a hand in this fight, with every petition you’ve signed and every story you’ve shared. Let’s keep up that important work as the fight continues to achieve better policy for disabled folks! We thank you for joining us and voicing the need for more accurate and inclusive disability data, especially for multi-marginalized disabled people, from the US government!

If you haven't, please sign our petition. It urges Congress to act now in support of Disabled Women's Equal Pay Day.

Together, we are a powerful voice for pay equity for all!

– Taylor, Ruth, Kristin, and the whole MomsRising.org & MamásConPoder Team

References:

[1] Equal Pay Today | Disabled Women's Equal Pay Day

[2] National Partner for Women and Families | Disabled Women and the Wage Gap

[3] Center for American Progress | Eliminating Barriers to Employment for Disabled Women

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