[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 22 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 22
Recognizing the significance of equal pay and the disparity between
wages paid to men and women.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 9, 2023
Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida (for herself, Ms. DeLauro, Ms. Leger
Fernandez, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms. Adams, Mr. Auchincloss, Ms.
Balint, Ms. Barragan, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Bishop of Georgia,
Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Bowman, Mr.
Boyle of Pennsylvania, Ms. Brown, Ms. Brownley, Ms. Budzinski, Ms.
Bush, Ms. Caraveo, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Carson, Mr.
Cartwright, Mr. Case, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mrs.
Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Chu, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Clarke of New York,
Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Connolly, Ms. Craig, Ms. Crockett, Mr.
Davis of Illinois, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Ms. DeGette, Ms. DelBene,
Mr. Deluzio, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mrs. Dingell, Ms. Escobar, Ms. Eshoo, Mr.
Espaillat, Mr. Evans, Mrs. Fletcher, Mr. Foster, Mr. Gallego, Ms.
Garcia of Texas, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr.
Green of Texas, Mr. Grijalva, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Higgins of New York, Mr.
Horsford, Ms. Hoyle of Oregon, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Jacobs, Ms.
Jayapal, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Ms. Kaptur, Mr.
Keating, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Kilmer, Mr.
Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Kuster, Mrs. Lee of Nevada, Ms. Lee of California,
Mr. Lieu, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Manning, Ms. Matsui, Mrs. McBath,
Ms. McCollum, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Meng, Ms. Moore of
Wisconsin, Mr. Morelle, Mr. Moskowitz, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Nadler, Mrs.
Napolitano, Mr. Neguse, Mr. Norcross, Ms. Norton, Ms. Omar, Mr.
Pallone, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Pappas, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Payne, Mr. Peters,
Ms. Pettersen, Ms. Pingree, Ms. Plaskett, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Porter, Ms.
Pressley, Mr. Quigley, Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Ross, Mr. Sablan,
Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Schiff, Ms.
Schrier, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Ms. Sewell, Ms. Sherrill, Mr.
Smith of Washington, Mr. Soto, Ms. Stansbury, Mr. Stanton, Ms. Stevens,
Ms. Strickland, Mr. Swalwell, Mr. Takano, Ms. Titus, Ms. Tlaib, Ms.
Tokuda, Mr. Tonko, Mrs. Torres of California, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Trone,
Mr. Vargas, Mr. Veasey, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mrs.
Watson Coleman, Ms. Wexton, and Ms. Wilson of Florida) submitted the
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Recognizing the significance of equal pay and the disparity between
wages paid to men and women.
Whereas section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(d))
prohibits discrimination in compensation for equal work on the basis of
sex;
Whereas title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.)
prohibits discrimination in compensation because of race, color,
religion, national origin, or sex;
Whereas, nearly six decades after the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (29
U.S.C. 206 note), Census Bureau data show that women working full time,
year round are paid an average of 84 cents for every dollar paid to men,
while Asian-American women working full time, year round are paid 92
cents, White, non-Hispanic women working full time, year round are paid
80 cents, African-American women working full time, year round are paid
67 cents, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women working full time,
year round are paid 65 cents, American Indian and Alaska Native women
working full time, year round are paid 57 cents, and Latinas working
full time, year round are paid 57 cents for every dollar paid to White,
non-Hispanic men;
Whereas March 14, 2023, is Equal Pay Day, marking the day that symbolizes how
long into 2023 women must work to make what men were paid in 2022;
Whereas April 5, 2023, is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander
Women's Equal Pay Day; August 30, 2023, is Native Hawaiian Pacific
Islander Women's Equal Pay Day; July 27, 2023, is Black Women's Equal
Pay Day; November 30, 2023, is Native Women's Equal Pay Day; and October
5, 2023, is Latinas' Equal Pay Day;
Whereas, if current trends continue, Asian women are projected to close the
gender pay gap for all workers, including part-time, full time, and
seasonal workers, in 24 years, White women in 43 years, Black women in
121 years, and Latinas in 187 years;
Whereas the disparity in median annual earnings for women and men working full
time, year round is $9,954, which can add up to nearly $400,000 over a
career;
Whereas women's median earnings are less than men's at every level of academic
achievement, with women with less than a high school diploma earning 78
percent of men's earnings, and women with a professional degree earning
70 percent of men's earnings at the same level of education;
Whereas women are often paid less than men with lower levels of education, with
women with associate's degrees paid less than men with a high school
diploma, and women with master's degrees paid less than men with
bachelor's degrees;
Whereas, in the United States, mothers are breadwinners in more than half of
families with children under 18, and mothers working full time typically
are paid 74 percent of what fathers are paid;
Whereas the gender wage gap collectively costs women employed full time in the
United States more than $958,000,000,000 in annual lost wages, so that
families have less money to spend on goods and services that help drive
economic growth;
Whereas, if the annual gender wage gap were eliminated, on average, a working
woman in the United States would have enough money for approximately 1
year of childcare, 8 additional months of rent, 6 additional months of
mortgage and utilities payments, the full cost of tuition and fees for
attending a 2-year college, more than 6 additional months of premiums
for employer-based health insurance, more than 8 additional years of
birth control, more than 62 weeks of food, or enough money to pay off
student loan debt in just under 4 years;
Whereas women hold nearly two-thirds of the Nation's $1,700,000,000,000 in
outstanding student loan debt, totaling over $929,000,000,000, and are
less likely to be able to pay off their student loan debt promptly due
to wage disparities;
Whereas the wage gap impacts women's ability to save for retirement and women's
total Social Security and pension benefits, and older women are more
likely than men to live in poverty;
Whereas sex discrimination in education, hiring, and promotion has played a role
in maintaining a workforce segregated by sex;
Whereas sex-based wage differentials--
(1) depress employee wages and living standards necessary for health
and well-being;
(2) reduce family incomes and contribute to the higher poverty rates
among women and their families; and
(3) prevent the effective and maximum utilization of available labor
resources;
Whereas a wage gap exists in nearly every occupational field, but opening
traditionally male-dominated jobs to women and reducing occupational
segregation by sex increases earnings for women;
Whereas nearly two-thirds of workers paid the minimum wage or less are women,
and the concentration of women in low-wage jobs is a significant
contributor to the wage gap;
Whereas the gender wage gap between union women and men is about half the size
of the wage gap between nonunion women and men, and women union members
typically earn $214 more per week than women who are not represented by
unions;
Whereas, as much as 38 percent of the wage gap is unexplained by observable
factors such as variation in educational attainment, industry, and
occupation, and may reflect discrimination;
Whereas two-thirds of private sector workers report that employers either
prohibit or discourage them from discussing their pay, which can keep
the existence of pay discrimination hidden and prevent remedying that
discrimination;
Whereas the lack of family-friendly policies, such as access to affordable,
quality childcare, paid family and medical leave, paid sick days, and
fair and predictable work schedules, forces many caregivers to choose
between providing for their families financially and ensuring their
loved ones receive quality care, and contributes to the wage gap;
Whereas 1 in 3 women have been on the receiving end of sexual harassment during
their careers, and an estimated 87 to 94 percent of those who experience
sexual harassment never file a formal complaint;
Whereas workplace harassment forces many women to leave their occupation or
industry, or pass up opportunities for advancement, and this contributes
to the gender wage gap;
Whereas equal pay strengthens the economic security of families and enhances
retirement savings;
Whereas, when women are paid fairly, families are stronger, businesses prosper,
and American values and the economy are strengthened;
Whereas, if women in the United States received equal pay comparable with men,
poverty for working women would be reduced by half, and the economy
would add $5,120,000,000 annually, based on a 2017 analysis;
Whereas the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has had a
disproportionate impact on women and women of color, with women losing
the majority of jobs lost since March 2020;
Whereas, since women earn less on average than their male partners, 3 times more
women than men have left the workforce to look after their children who
are learning from home;
Whereas women and women of color are now experiencing the lowest rates of
employment in decades; and
Whereas numerous national organizations have designated Wednesday, March 14,
2023, as ``Equal Pay Day'' to represent the additional time that women
must work to compensate for the average 16-percent lower wages paid to
women working full time, year round last year: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That Congress--
(1) recognizes the disparity between wages paid to women
and men and its impact on women, families, and the Nation; and
(2) reaffirms its commitment to supporting equal pay and to
narrowing the gender wage gap.
<all>