Representative Angie Craig Joins Colleagues in Reintroducing the Paycheck Fairness Act

WASHINGTON, DC — Last week, Representative Angie Craig joined Representative Rosa DeLauro and Senator Patty Murray as an original cosponsor in reintroducing the bipartisan Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation that would strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963, help eliminate the gender wage gap and guarantee that women can challenge pay discrimination and hold employers accountable.

Introduced ahead of the twelfth anniversary of the signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Actinto law, the Paycheck Fairness Act would end the practice of pay secrecy and strengthen the available remedies for wronged employees.

"It's unacceptable that women in our country continue to earn less than their male counterparts for the same work," saidRepresentative Angie Craig. "As we work to address the current economic crisis and its disproportionate impact on women, the need to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act has become even more urgent. This bipartisan legislation will stamp out pay discrimination and ensure that women have the tools they need to hold employers accountable for unfair employment practices."

More than five decades after the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, women on average still make only 82 cents, for every dollar earned by men. That gap is even wider for women of color. Compared to white men, African American women are paid 63 cents and Latina women are paid 55 cents. For a woman working full time year-round, the current wage gap represents a loss of more than $400,000 over the course of her career. The wage gap impacts women's ability to save for retirement and reduces their total Social Security and pension benefits, contributing to more older women living in poverty.

Pay inequity not only affects women – it affects children, families and our economy as a whole because, in half of families with children, women are the sole or co-breadwinner. Over the past two decades, women make a growing share of the family income in all family types.

The full text of this legislation is available here.