“The U.S. House of Representatives acted wisely to close the wage gap that punishes moms and women, causing compounded harm to women and moms of color due to structural racism, and damages businesses and our economy by passing the Paycheck Fairness Act today. This bill will support a just recovery. As we struggle to emerge from the pandemic, which has pushed women’s labor force participation to a 30-year low, we simply must ensure that women and moms are paid fairly. The Paycheck Fairness Act would help do that by addressing the bias and discriminatory practices that depress women’s wages, increasing pay transparency, prohibiting retaliation for sharing information on wages, and strengthening penalties for pay discrimination. We commend every representative who voted for it and thank Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House leaders for prioritizing its passage.

“This bill would help address the shameful fact that across all races and ethnicities, women in our country who work full time, year-round are paid an average of just 82 cents for every dollar paid to men — and women of color are paid much less due to structural racism we have failed to stop. In the United States today, Latinas are paid just 55 cents, Native women just 60 cents, and Black women just 63 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. Moms are paid just 75 cents for every dollar paid to dads, with moms of color experiencing the most severe wage discrimination. As we rebuild our economy, we must end the wage gap that denies moms and women fair pay, forces families into poverty, and causes terrible harm to our economy. America’s moms demand the U.S. Senate pass the Paycheck Fairness Act now.”

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

“At MomsRising, we hear often from women who suffer pay discrimination and whose families are struggling as a result. They urgently need the protections the Paycheck Fairness Act would provide: ending the use of salary histories to determine salaries; stopping employer retaliation for sharing information on wages; making it easier to collectively challenge pay discrimination; and providing additional protections that would finally move us closer to pay parity.

“As we emerge from the pandemic and work to rebuild our economy, we need the U.S. Senate to recognize that too many hardworking women and moms face wage discrimination that forces them to live paycheck to paycheck or fall into poverty. America needs – and America’s moms demand – the U.S. Senate pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, so President Biden can sign it into law. We need this law now.”

--Statement of Sara Alcid, Senior Campaign Director, Workplace Justice, MomsRising