National Equal Pay Day

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Hawaii for her leadership on this issue, and I will be yielding the floor to the lead sponsor of today's effort.

Our Nation is built on the belief that anyone who works hard should have the opportunity to achieve the American dream. Yet there are women across this country who are doing the same job as their male colleagues and being paid less. That is why today, on National Equal Pay Day, I stand with my fellow Senators to renew our efforts to ensure equal pay for equal work.

Fifty years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act, women still only earn 79 cents on every dollar paid to a man. This wage gap is even worse for women of color. African-American women who work full time make only 60 cents for every dollar paid to white males. Hispanic women earn only 55 cents.

Women are paid less even when factors such as age, education, occupation, and work hours are taken into consideration. In nearly every occupation in our country, women's median earnings are less than their male competitors. It is no different for women in my State of Illinois. The median earning for Illinois women is $10,000 less than the median earning for men. While African-American women in Illinois make slightly more than the national average, Hispanic women are paid even less--48 cents on the dollar. Think about that. Hispanic women are making less than half the earnings of their male coworkers who have similar levels of education and do the same job. This isn't right, and it isn't fair.

The gender wage gap translates into nearly $11,000 less in median earnings for women each year and over $430,000 in lost wages over a lifetime. Now that women are the sole or primary breadwinners in 4 out of 10 families, this means less money for food, housing, and education. It is no wonder the poverty rate for female heads of households continues to be disproportionately high.

This disparity follows women into their retirement since retirement savings and Social Security are based on income earned. In Illinois, the average weekly Social Security benefit for female retirees is 77.3 percent of the average for Illinois males per week. While female retirees receive less, on average, compared to men under Social Security, women tend to live longer and spend more on medical care, forcing them to do more with less.

What would happen if we closed this wage gap? Amazing things. Sixty percent of women would earn more if they were paid the same wages as their male counterparts, nearly two-thirds of single working mothers would receive a pay increase, and the poverty rate for women would be cut in half. It would mean fewer families in poverty and fewer families would need safety net programs. Equal pay for equal work would also mean women and their families would have more to spend on basic goods and services, and that is good for our economy.

So what do we have to do to close this wage gap? We can pass the Paycheck Fairness Act introduced by my colleague Senator Mikulski and my friend and colleague Senator Murray. Employers still maintain policies that punish employees who voluntarily share salary information with coworkers. This makes it nearly impossible for employees to find out whether they are being paid fairly.

This bill would provide women the same remedies for pay discrimination as people who are subjected to discrimination based on race and national origin. It would also close loopholes in current law that still permit retaliation against workers who disclose their wages.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would build on the success of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which clarified the 180-day statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit on pay discrimination that resets with each affected paycheck. This was the first bill signed into law by President Obama in 2009. The Senator from Maryland remembers that day because President Obama signed the bill, took the first pen that he used to sign it, and handed it to the Senator from Maryland.

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Mr. DURBIN. I remember that because I stood there and thought: That is entirely appropriate that a Senator who has dedicated her life to this kind of fairness and equality for women at work would receive the first pen from the first bill signed into law by this new President.

My Republican colleagues: Why aren't you with us on this issue? Don't you agree that your daughter should be paid the same as your son for doing the same work? It is a basic issue of fairness. It shouldn't have anything to do with party labels, so we invite you to join us. This should not be a partisan issue at all. Certainly for women at work, it is not partisan. It is just a matter of fairness. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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