On "Equal Pay Day,' Peters Calls for End to Wage Discrimination

Statement

Representative Gary Peters will join more than a hundred lawmakers in the House to reintroduce the Paycheck Fairness Act -- legislation that will extend new protections against wage discrimination and help ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work.

Today is Equal Pay Day, the day recognizing the point in the calendar year by which women have made up for the wage discrimination they suffered during the previous year. On average nationwide, women are paid 77 cents for every dollar that men are paid. As a result, women have to work for nearly sixteen months to earn as much money as men earn in twelve months. The disparity is even greater in Michigan, where women earn only 72 cents for each dollar men earn.

Peters issued the following statement in recognition of Equal Pay Day and the need to end wage discrimination:

"Despite years of progress towards greater equality, women still face real wage discrimination in America today, earning only 77 cents for every dollar that men earn. To put that in perspective, it takes until early April each year for a typical woman to earn as much as an average man earned in the previous year.

"I've been proud to support legislation like the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to help increase equality, but we must keep working to eliminate wage discrimination entirely. As a father, I want to ensure that my two daughters will live and work in a world where their hard work is not discounted simply for being female and they are paid the same as any other American for doing the same work.

"Paycheck discrimination doesn't just shortchange women, it increases the financial burden on families here in Michigan trying to make ends meet as we continue recovering from the recession."

Peters is an original cosponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act, joining 116 Members of Congress in introducing the legislation today. Peters also supported a previous version of the Paycheck Fairness Act in 2009, cosponsoring the bill and voting to pass it in the House. The Senate did not vote on the legislation in the last Congress, and it has not yet become law.

Equal Pay Day is being recognized this year on April 12th. It is typically observed on a Tuesday, to symbolize the point in the work week by which women have earned as much as men earned the previous week.

On the Web: http://www.pay-equity.org/day.html

Pay Equity Statistics by State: http://www.aauw.org/learn/research/statedata/upload/table_data.pdf

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