Raise the Minimum Wage and Pass Paycheck Fairness to Help Restore Equal Pay for Equal Work, Says Miller
WASHINGTON—Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement today to mark Equal Pay Day, which reflects how far into the current year women must work to match what men earned in the previous year:
“Today, too many Americans are seeing their hard work go unrewarded because of circumstances beyond their control. Many women know this struggle all too well. Women in this country face a pay gap that means they earn 23 percent less, on average, than their male counterparts. Paying people less because of their gender isn’t just morally wrong, it’s also a drag on our economy.
“It is time for Congress to enact the Paycheck Fairness Act to restore the promise of equal pay for equal work. Congress should also act now to help reduce the wage gap by raising the national minimum wage. Research has shown that raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour will help close the gender pay gap, reduce poverty among women and their families, and put more money in the pockets of millions of hard-working women. No one who works full time should have to raise their family in poverty, and that’s especially true for the women across our country who are disproportionately working in low-wage jobs. By giving them critical tools to fight pay discrimination and raising the wage floor so that they can afford to feed and clothe their families, we can go a long way to restoring the promise of the American dream.
“I’d also like to commend President Obama on his actions today to prohibit retaliation against federal contractors who discuss their compensation, so that women can find out about wage gaps at their employer, and require the collection of pay data from contractors that includes race and gender information. Together, these executive orders will encourage greater pay transparency, offer workers more ways to uncover violations of equal pay laws, and enable workers to seek appropriate remedies.”
For more information on the Paycheck Fairness Act, click here.
For more information on the Fair Minimum Wage Act, click here.
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