As We Mark Equal Pay Day, Rep. Johnson Calls for Passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act

Women in Georgia Still Earn Only 82 Cents for Every Dollar Earned by Men

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As we mark Equal Pay Day today, Rep. Hank Johnson (GA-04) said that more needs to be done to close the wage gap that still exists between women and men – including passage of the critical Paycheck Fairness Act. Equal Pay Day symbolizes when, more than three months into the year, women’s wages finally catch up to what men were paid in the previous year.

“According to the National Women’s Law Center, the women in Georgia still earn only 82 cents for every dollar earned by men,” stated Rep. Johnson. “And nationwide women earn only 79 cents for every dollar earned by men, despite the fact that the Equal Pay Act will mark its 53nd anniversary in June. Indeed, a new study finds that women won’t see pay equity with men until 2059 based on the rate that the pay gap has been closing since 1960.”

The wage gap can be even larger for women of color. Among Georgia’s women who hold fulltime, year-round jobs, African American women are paid 63 cents, Latinas are paid 48 cents and Asian women are paid 73 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.

Georgia’s gender wage gap spans the state. In all 14 of Georgia’s congressional districts, the median yearly pay for women who work full time, year round is less than the median yearly pay for men who do.

“Today, women make up about half of the workforce and it’s wrong that on average they are still being paid less than men,” Rep. Johnson pointed out. “A woman deserves equal pay for equal work. While women’s role in our economy has changed dramatically, America’s workplaces have simply not kept up.”

“I am a proud cosponsor, along with every other House Democrat, of the critical Paycheck Fairness Act, which is designed to help women finally achieve equal pay for equal work, by strengthening and closing loopholes in the Equal Pay Act of 1963,” Rep. Johnson stated.

The Paycheck Fairness Act is a central pillar of the House Democrats’ When Women Succeed, America Succeeds: An Economic Agenda for Women and Families. Among its many provisions, it prohibits employer retaliation for sharing salary information with coworkers; requires employers to show that pay disparity is truly job-related, not based on gender; strengthens remedies for women experiencing pay discrimination; and empowers women in the workplace through a grant program to strengthen salary negotiation and other workplace skills.

Unfortunately, just since 2013, House Republicans have voted nine times to block the Paycheck Fairness Act from being considered on the House Floor.

“This Equal Pay Day, I am calling on House Republicans to start working with Democrats to do something real about closing the wage gap – by allowing the House to consider the Paycheck Fairness Act,” Rep. Johnson concluded. “Equal pay is not simply a woman’s issue – it is a family issue. When women bring home less money each day, it means they have less for the everyday needs of their families. We should not rest until we achieve true pay equity for women – ensuring that all American women in the workforce are receiving equal pay for equal work.”