[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 158 (Thursday, September 29, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5561-S5562]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 48--RECOGNIZING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF EQUAL 
PAY AND THE DISPARITY IN WAGES PAID TO MEN AS COMPARED TO WAGES PAID TO 
                              BLACK WOMEN

  Mr. WARNOCK submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:

                            S. Con. Res. 48

       Whereas September 21, 2022, is Black Women's Equal Pay Day, 
     which marks the number of days into 2022 that Black women 
     must work in order to earn the same amount, since January 1, 
     2021, that White, non-Hispanic men were paid in 2021;
       Whereas section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
     1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(d)) prohibits discrimination in 
     compensation for equal work on the basis of sex;

[[Page S5562]]

       Whereas title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 
     U.S.C. 2000e et seq.) prohibits discrimination in 
     compensation because of race, color, religion, national 
     origin, or sex;
       Whereas despite the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 
     (Public Law 88-38; 77 Stat. 56) 5 decades ago, which requires 
     that men and women in the same workplace be given equal pay 
     for equal work, data from the Bureau of the Census shows that 
     Black women working full-time, year-round, are paid 58 cents 
     for every dollar paid to White, non-Hispanic men;
       Whereas if the current trends continue, on average, Black 
     women will have to wait 100 years to achieve equal pay;
       Whereas the median annual pay for a Black woman in the 
     United States working full-time, year-round, is $41,098, 
     which means that, on average, Black women lose nearly 
     $964,400 in potential earnings to the wage gap during the 
     course of a 40-year career;
       Whereas lost wages mean Black women have less money to 
     support themselves and their families, save and invest for 
     the future, and spend on goods and services, causing 
     businesses and the economy to suffer as a result;
       Whereas the median earnings of Black women are less than 
     the median earnings of men at every level of academic 
     achievement;
       Whereas, in the United States, more than 80 percent of 
     Black mothers are key breadwinners or co-breadwinners for 
     their families, but Black mothers working full time are paid 
     only 52 percent as much as fathers;
       Whereas the lack of access to affordable, quality 
     childcare, paid family and medical leave, paid sick leave, 
     and other family-friendly workplace policies contributes to 
     the wage gap by forcing many Black women to choose between 
     their paycheck or job and getting quality care for themselves 
     or their family members;
       Whereas if the wage gap were eliminated, on average, a 
     Black woman working full time would have enough money for 
     approximately 2.5 additional years of tuition and fees for a 
     4-year public university, the full cost of tuition and fees 
     for a 2-year community college, more than 16 additional 
     months of premiums for employer-based health insurance, 153 
     weeks of food for her family, 15 additional months of 
     mortgage and utilities payments, 22 more months of rent, 
     nearly 20 additional years of birth control, or enough money 
     to pay off student loan debt in just over 1 year;
       Whereas 25 to 85 percent of women have been sexually 
     harassed at the workplace, and research has found that only 
     about 1 in 10 women who experience harassment, formally 
     report incidents for reasons including lack of access to the 
     complaints processes and fear of retaliation;
       Whereas workplace harassment forces many women to leave 
     their occupation or industry;
       Whereas targets of harassment were 6.5 times as likely as 
     nontargets to change jobs or pass up opportunities for 
     advancement, contributing to the gender wage gap;
       Whereas Black women were the most likely of all racial and 
     ethnic groups to have filed a sexual harassment charge;
       Whereas nearly \2/3\ of workers paid the minimum wage or 
     less are women, and there is an overrepresentation of women 
     of color in low-wage and tipped occupations;
       Whereas more than 62 percent of women working in the 
     private sector reported that they were either discouraged or 
     prohibited from discussing wage and salary information, which 
     can hide pay discrimination and prevent remedies;
       Whereas the pay disparity Black women face is part of a 
     wider set of disparities Black women encounter in home 
     ownership, unemployment, poverty, access to childcare, and 
     the ability to accumulate wealth;
       Whereas the gender wage gap for Black women has only 
     narrowed by 3 cents in the last 3 decades;
       Whereas true pay equity requires a multifaceted strategy 
     that addresses the gendered and racial injustices that Black 
     women face daily;
       Whereas the pandemic has disproportionately economically 
     impacted Black women; and
       Whereas many national organizations have designated 
     September 21, 2022, as Black Women's Equal Pay Day to 
     represent the additional time that Black women must work to 
     compensate for the lower wages paid to Black women last year: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) recognizes the disparity in wages paid to Black women 
     and its impact on women, families, and the United States; and
       (2) reaffirms its support for ensuring equal pay for equal 
     work and narrowing the gender wage gap.

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