News release
Local Teens to Legislators: Women Worth More than Spare Change!
January 31, 2015
Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996
High School students travel to Olympia to tell legislators fair pay and equal opportunity is important to their futures
OLYMPIA – On Monday, Feb. 2, over 20 high school students from the Redmond-area and Seattle will travel to Olympia, Washington to meet with legislators, sign-in in favor of and testify at a hearing in support for the Equal Opportunity Act and learn about the legislative process.
“Fair pay is extremely important to me as I start to think about my future. I’m starting to think about college and possible careers. My friends and I should be able to make the most out of our futures and have the same opportunity as everyone else. Women are worth more than spare change,”said Olivia, a high school sophomore.
In addition to testifying, students will be delivering signatures from people across Washington urging that the Equal Pay Opportunity Act move toward passage, stories of experiences of unfair pay from women in Washington, as well as delivering chocolate coins to legislators with the message, “Women are worth more than spare change.”
WHO: High school students from Redmond and Seattle, along with advocates with MomsRising.
WHAT: Over 20 of Washington’s high school youth will be in Olympia to meet in-person with legislators and testify in support of the Equal Pay Opportunity Act.
WHEN: Monday, February 2nd
In Seattle:
Students will depart from Dahl Playfield in Seattle around 10am (7700 25th Ave NE; Seattle, WA 98115). Please contact us for specifics.
In Olympia:
11:00am-12:00pm for photos/video students touring legislative building
1:30pm for photos/video of students testifying in support of the Equal Pay Opportunity Act (Location: John L. O’Brien building, Hearing Room D)
2:00-3:00pm for photos/video of students delivering chocolate coins to legislators.
*Students would also be available to travel to the Press Building in the afternoon if needed.
WHERE: Washington State Capitol Grounds; Olympia, WA
On average, according the U.S. Census, women make only 78 cents to a man’s dollar. In Washington state, African American women make just 62.4 cents to every $1 made by White men and Latinas make even less – 46.5 cents to every $1 made by White men. And, the Seattle-area has one of the largest wage gaps in the nation – women are paid just 73 cents to a man’s dollar.
Fair pay isn’t just a women’s issue. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research found that U.S. GDP would grow by three percent if women were paid as much as men.
High school senior, Connor explained why he is participating in this day of legislative action and learning, “We have a responsibly to make sure people are treated and paid equally for equal work. There really isn't any excuse to not do so.”
MomsRising Executive Director, Kristine Rowe-Finkbeiner, notes, “Our kids and teens are planning their futures now and it is up to us to help open the doors to equality for them.”
Realistic and fair wages is an issue MomsRising, a grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to achieve economic security for all families in the United States, strongly supports and works to achieve given that studies show that moms and women of color experience the most extreme wage hits; and that being a mom is a greater predictor of wage and hiring discrimination than being a woman. The motherhood wage hit impacts most women because 82 percent of women have children by the time they are forty-four years-old, and a recent study also found that within a number of occupations, women already earn less than men earned just one year out of college.