[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 54 (Monday, April 11, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E390]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        OBSERVING EQUAL PAY DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. THEODORE E. DEUTCH

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 11, 2016

  Mr. DEUTCH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to observe Equal Pay Day, the 
day when women's wages finally catch up to men's.
  Fifty three years after passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and 
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, women and minorities continue to 
experience inequitable pay differentials. In fact, women who work full 
time, year round in the United States were paid only 79 cents for every 
dollar paid to their male counterparts in 2014. In Florida, a woman who 
holds a full-time job is paid, on average, $34,768 per year while a man 
who holds a full-time job is paid $40,971 per year. For minorities, the 
gap is even larger.
  This equates to a combined 17 billion dollars loss of wages annually 
for Florida women with full-time jobs. These lost wages mean Floridian 
families have fewer resources to buy goods and services. The wage gap 
directly hurts Florida's families and our economy.
  If change continues at the same slow pace as it has during the last 
50 years, it will take nearly 50 more years--until 2059--for women and 
men to finally reach pay parity.
  I join the Enterprising and Professional Women of South Florida in 
observing Equal Pay Day and calling attention to the continuing wage 
disparity women in our nation and state face.

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