Eliminating the Gender Pay Gap

Because women earn less than men, they must work longer for the same amount of pay. Equal Pay Day originates from the 1996 National Committee on Pay Equity to illustrate the gap between men’s and women’s wages, and is the symbolic day when women’s earnings catch up to men’s earnings from the previous year. This year, National Equal Pay Day will be celebrated on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.

Gender Gap by Race and Age

Federal women employees are protected by The Equal Pay Act of 1963, which made it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who perform equal work. But many states do not follow these laws. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the second quarter of 2024, the median weekly earnings was $1,253 for men and $1,017 for women. The data also revealed discrepancies by race. The median weekly earnings of white women were $1,037, while Black women’s earnings were $906, or 87.4 percent compared to white women. Latina women earned $831, or 80.1 percent of earnings per dollar by white women. Asian women earned $1,337, which was higher than white women. And by age, the median weekly earnings of women were highest for women ages 45 to 54 at $1,151, and lowest for women ages 16 to 24 at $771.

Institute for Women’s Policy Research Findings

According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, more than 36 million households in the U.S. are headed by women. Forty-eight percent of white mothers, 49 percent of Latina mothers, 79 percent of Black mothers, 64 percent of Native American mothers, and 43 percent of Asian and Paci c Islander mothers are breadwinners in their households. Yet, mothers overall are paid just 62 cents for every dollar paid to fathers.

The wage gap also varies by state and congressional district. In Utah, where the gap is the widest, women are paid only 61 cents for every dollar paid to men (a gap of 39 cents for every dollar). Even in Vermont, where the gap is the narrowest, women are paid just 83 cents for every dollar paid to men – a gap of 17 cents. In each of the 435 congressional districts across the country and the District of Columbia, the median annual pay for women is less than the median annual pay for men.

The Paycheck Fairness Act

The Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA) was a bill that addressed wage discrimination in the workplace. The House of Representatives formerly passed the bill in April 2021, during the 117th Congress, and it moved to the Senate in March 2023. However, it did not make it to the floor for a vote. If reintroduced and passed in the new Congress, the PFA would help strengthen the Equal Pay Act and eliminate wage discrimination by:

• Limiting an employer’s defense that a pay differential is based on a factor other than sex to only bonafide job-related factors in wage discrimination claims,
• Enhancing nonretaliation prohibitions,
• Making it unlawful to require an employee to sign a contract or waiver prohibiting the employee from disclosing information about the employee’s wages, and
• Increasing civil penalties for violations of equal pay provisions.

Equal Pay Day is on March 25, 2025. Wear RED to show solidarity with the fight for pay equity and gender equality! ■

Resources: Institute for Women’s Policy Research, National Committee on Pay Equity, Bureau of Labor Statistics and the US Census Bureau.