John,
Today is Equal Pay Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness of the gender pay gap by highlighting how far into a new year a woman must work, on average, to earn what a man did in the previous year.
This year, Equal Pay Day falls on March 14, the earliest it has ever fallen. This signifies that our country has made progress in achieving pay equality, but we should not rest until Equal Pay Day is no longer necessary.
In 2020, the average woman working full-time, year round, earned 83 cents for every $1 their average male counterpart made. This gap is even larger for women of color.
Over the course of a year, this pay gap can add up to thousands of dollars in lost earnings. And over the course of a career, it can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost earnings.
60 years ago this year, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act, and yet we clearly have not reached our goal of equal pay for equal work.
In the last Congress, I supported the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would require employers to prove that pay disparities exist for legitimate, job-related reasons; provide assistance to all businesses to help them with equal pay practices; make improvements to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s and the Department of Labor’s tools for enforcing the Equal Pay Act; and more.
We must retake the House, hold on to the presidency, and defend and expand the Senate in 2024 if we’re going to finally pass the Paycheck Fairness Act and make it law. Will you make a contribution of any amount to keep me in the House fighting for paycheck fairness?
Frankly, it is unconscionable that in 2023 we are still fighting for paycheck fairness. Equal pay is a matter of justice, fairness, and respect — it is about living up to our values.
Sincerely,
Congressman Sanford Bishop
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