“83 cents. That is how much America’s full-time, year-round women workers are paid for each dollar paid to men, according to 2023 Census data. The wage gap widens to an even more appalling 75 cents when you consider all earners, including full-time, part-time, and part-year workers. And for the first time in 21 years, the gender-based wage gap actually grew in 2024.

“The gap between mothers and fathers is even worse, with moms working full-time, year-round outside the home paid just 74 cents for every dollar paid to fathers. It’s worse still for women and moms of color. These wage gaps are punitive and unacceptable and a devastating measure of how badly women’s work is underpaid and undervalued in our country; and it also hurts our businesses and our economy as a whole. Unfortunately, there’s a real threat that the wage gap will get even worse because President Trump has fired officials at agencies charged with enforcing and protecting our employment and civil rights, including at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the National Labor Relations Board, while obliterating our country’s longstanding commitment to equity and inclusion.

“America’s moms want the wage gap closed and we know that gutting our country’s equal opportunity agencies thwarts the progress we, and our economy, need. After all, women and moms make the majority of purchasing decisions in our economy, which is fueled by consumer spending, so when there isn’t pay parity, the economy as a whole loses out.  

“Instead of backtracking, we should be strengthening policies that protect workers from discrimination and lift the economy. So we applaud U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and U.S. Representative Rosa DeLaura (D-CT) for reintroducing the Paycheck Fairness Act today. It would bar retaliation against workers who discuss or disclose their wages, so employees can advocate for fair pay without fear of punishment; prohibit employers from relying on salary history in setting pay, preventing past discrimination from following women from job to job; close loopholes that have allowed employers to justify paying women less than men for the same work; and provide technical assistance and funding to collect data so as to better enforce pay equity laws. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle should prioritize and support speedy passage.”

 -Statement of Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director and CEO, MomsRising

 “Equal Pay Day is a painful reminder of the employment and wage discrimination that pervades our country, now, in 2025. It’s not just hurting moms and families; it’s harming our businesses and our economy. It needs to end.

 “With food and other costs so high, families depend on women’s wages, and we need those wages to be fair. They are far from it today. Wage gaps persist and they are even larger for disabled women and women of color than for women and moms overall. For disabled women, the wage gap is 56 cents; for Latinas, it’s 51 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men; for Native women, it’s 52 cents; for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women, it’s 61 cents; for Black women, it’s 64 cents; and for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander women overall, it’s 83 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. LGBTQIA+ women are also subject to unfair wage disparities, further compounding the economic inequalities they face.

 “Moms are grateful to U.S. Representative Lois Frankel (D-FL) for the Equal Pay Day Resolution she introduced today, which points out that the disparity in median annual earnings for women and men working full time, year round is $11,550, which can add up to more than $450,000 over a career. Those horrifying numbers should stand as an urgent call to action to lawmakers to act now to close the wage gap. There’s no time to waste.”

 -Statement of Taylor Austin, Campaign Manager, Workplace Justice, MomsRising