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Pelosi Statement on Equal Pay Day

March 24, 2021
Contact: Speaker's Press Office,
202-226-7616
San Francisco – Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement marking Equal Pay Day, which marks how far into the year a woman must work, on average, to earn as much as a man earned the previous year:
"On Equal Pay Day, our nation marks the day when, almost three months into the year, women's wages finally catch up to what men earned in the previous year. Nearly 60 years after President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law, full-time working women still earn just 82 cents, on average, for every dollar a man earns, with the wage gap even larger for women of color. Equal Pay Day is a reminder that there is much more work to be done to make real the promise of equal pay for equal work.
"Sadly, the challenges of the past year have inflicted a further, devastating toll on American women, with millions of women having lost their jobs and over 2 million being forced to leave the workforce entirely, including more than 1 million mothers, due to the lack of affordable child care. As we crush the virus and Build Back Better For The People, we must act to end the gender wage gap and strengthen women's economic security by passing Chair Rosa DeLauro's Paycheck Fairness Act, which is being advanced today under the leadership of Education and Labor Committee Chair Bobby Scott. Next month, the House will pass this critical legislation to strengthen and modernize the Equal Pay Act and send it to the Senate where they must act swiftly to join us in delivering results for America's women.
"This Equal Pay Day, American women continue fighting to secure good-paying jobs and to provide for themselves and their families. Today, Democrats renew our efforts to ensure all women are empowered to succeed in our economy – because when women succeed, America succeeds."
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