[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 23, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E698]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            COMMERORATION OF APRIL 22, 2008 AS EQUAL PAY DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. STEPHANIE TUBBS JONES

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 23, 2008

  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Madam Speakear, I rise today to commemorate Equal 
Pay Day in order to address the need for equal pay for hardworking 
women across America. According to the United States Census Bureau, 
women are paid on average about 77 cents for every dollar earned by a 
man. For women of color, the gap is even wider. It is not acceptable 
that these wage gaps remain despite the passage of the Equal Pay Act 
more than 40 years ago in addition to a variety of related legislation 
prohibiting employment discrimination.
  Equal Pay Day marks the time of the year in which the average median 
income paid to American women equals the earnings of males from the 
previous year. On this day various groups and organizations hold events 
across the Nation in order to highlight the detrimental effects of 
continuing inequity that are felt in the form of gender segregation in 
the work force, the undervaluation of the types of jobs held 
predominately by women, and gender discrimination built into the pay 
system.
  In the State of Ohio, the median annual earnings of men with a 
college degree or more education is $65,000. In contrast, the median 
annual earnings of women with a college degree or more is $47,000, 
nearly $20,000 less per year. This statistic in my home state of Ohio 
is alarming. It is even more disturbing to know that this is a trend 
that exists nationwide that is not just affecting women, but also their 
families and children who rely upon their wages for basic everyday 
needs such as health care or groceries. I am proud to say that I 
supported the passage of H.R. 2831, the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and 
that I am a co-sponsor of H.R. 1338, the Paycheck Fairness Act, two of 
the key bills in the 110th Congress that will help to close the pay gap 
between men and women.
  African-American women have a long history of working out of their 
homes and have the highest labor force participation rate among all 
women at 63.4 percent. However, many African-American women are 
concentrated in low paying service jobs. African-American women 
comprise 6 percent of the entire country's workforce, but make up 14 
percent of workers earning between $15,000 and $30,000 per year and are 
less than 1 percent of workers earning over $100,000 per year. Not only 
do African-American women earn less, the growth in their earnings has 
lagged behind that of white women, 19 percent and 29 percent 
respectively. At the upper end of the earnings distribution, 
disparities in the labor market impact approximately 1 percent of 
African-American women in corporate officer positions whose earnings 
are on average $229,000 compared to $250,000 for Caucasian women.
  Over the last 60 years, the labor force participation of women has 
more than doubled, which means nearly one out every two workers is a 
woman. Not only are more women working, but more of these working women 
are mothers as well. In 1963, when President John F. Kennedy signed the 
Equal Pay Act into law, full-time working women were paid 59 cents to 
every dollar received by men. Meanwhile, 45 years later in 2008, women 
are still only paid 77 cents for every dollar received by men. To state 
this more clearly, the wage gap has only narrowed by less than half of 
a penny per year.
  According to the National Organization for Women, ``If women received 
the same wages as men who work the same number of hours, have the same 
education and union status, are the same age, and live in the same 
region of the country, then these women's annual income would rise by 
$4,000 and poverty rates would be cut in half. Working families would 
gain an astounding $200 billion in family income annually.''
  I applaud my colleagues for passing H.R. 2831, the Lily Ledbetter 
Fair Pay Act last year. I now urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1338, 
the Paycheck Fairness Act, which seeks to eliminate the gender wage gap 
in our Nation. These two bills are a beginning towards an end to a 
societal ill that has hurt our country's hardworking families for too 
long. I look forward to continuing to work with the people of the 11th 
Congressional district of Ohio and across this country to address this 
long withstanding inequity in our Country.

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