[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19674]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           PAY INEQUITY AND THE WAGE GAP IN THE UNITED STATES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-McDonald) is recognized for 
5 minutes.
  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, earlier this week we observed 
Labor Day. We take this important opportunity every year to honor this 
Nation's workers.
  Tonight I want to shed light on one way that this country can really 
honor a group of workers that make up almost half of this Nation's 
workforce, and those are our women.
  Mr. Speaker, the Department of Labor estimates that women will 
account for 55 percent of the increase in total labor-force growth 
between 2002 and 2012. However, in 2004 women made up 46 percent of the 
total United States workers. In that same year 68 million women were 
either working or looking for work.
  Women work in every sector of our economy. They are professionals, 
managers, nurses, salespersons, factory workers, and business owners. 
More and more women are entering into nontraditional occupations. We 
are an essential component of the American workforce.
  Then why is it that a full-time working woman receives only 73 cents 
to every dollar received by a man? That figure is worse for women of 
color. African American women earn 65 cents for every dollar paid to a 
white male. Hispanic women receive only 53 cents for each dollar earned 
by a white male. This means that Hispanic women are paid only slightly 
more than half of what white men earn. Even in jobs where women make up 
the majority of the workforce, and that is over 70 percent, men still 
earn close to 20 percent more than the women.
  This trend must stop. Anyone would be hard pressed to find 
statistical evidence proving that women work is less arduous than their 
male counterparts or that they underperform comparatively. There is no 
logical explanation why a woman, who is often times still responsible 
for her children and family, in addition to working full time, should 
earn less than a male doing the same work.
  This is not an issue that is going to go away, Mr. Speaker. Pay 
inequity is affecting the American family. If women earned the same 
amount of money as men who work the same hours doing the same job, 
their families' annual income would increase by $4,000 per year. This 
would cut poverty rates in half. Equal pay for equal work will increase 
women's spending capability. Equal pay for equal work will empower 
women to plan for their children's education and their own retirement.
  Over 40 years have passed since the enactment of the Equal Pay Act. 
In that time we have only closed the wage gap by one-third of 1 cent 
per year. Mr. Speaker, this is unacceptable. We must do more to correct 
this disparity.

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