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Rep. Wild Votes to Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act

April 15, 2021

Today, Representative Susan Wild (PA-07) voted to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, bipartisan legislation that she cosponsored and argued for as a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor.

"Each and every woman deserves a fair paycheck. But more than that, when we restrict the potential and opportunity of women, we restrict the potential of our communities and our economy," said Rep. Wild. "Our work towards a stronger economy and a fairer society continues today by passing this bill to ensure that women have the dignity and justice of equal pay for equal work."

The Paycheck Fairness Act addresses wage discrimination on the basis of sex and amends the Equal Pay Act to bolster the ability of women to fight for, and receive, equal pay for equal work.

Fifty-eight years after the 1963 Equal Pay Act was enacted, the latest data show that nationwide full-time working women still earn only 82 cents, on average, for every dollar a man earns, amounting to a yearly gender gap of $10,157 between full-time working men and women. The gap is even larger for women of color - with, on average, Black women earning just 63 cents, Native American women just 60 cents and Latinas just 55 cents for every dollar a white, non-Hispanic man earns.

Rep. Wild is a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor, and she argued in favor of passing the Paycheck Fairness Act in committee earlier this year. Her full remarks are available here. She is also a vice chair of the Congressional Labor and Working Families Caucus.

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