[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16397]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1145
                    INEQUITIES IN TODAY'S WORKFORCE

  (Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, today on the anniversary of the 
first Women's Rights Convention, I want to address the inequities that 
still exist in today's workforce.
  In 1996 when we destroyed the safety net for women and children by 
ending welfare, women have become even more reliant upon work for mere 
survival. Yet the lack of resources like child care, sick leave and 
disproportionate pay all conspire against most working women. As a 
matter of fact, the 9 to 5 National Organization of Working Women 
reported that women earned 76 cents for every dollar that men earned in 
2004. Over a lifetime what that means is a 25-year-old woman who works 
until age 65 will earn over a half million dollars less than the 
average working male.
  The playing field for women is uneven because 40 percent of single 
working mothers pay at least half of their cash income for child care, 
and half the States have cut child care availability. Far too many 
women are forced to cobble together part-time jobs in order to survive, 
and 70 percent of the workers who hold two or more jobs are women.

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