Chairwoman Barbara Lee Statement on Equal Pay Day
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee issued the following statement marking March 15th as Equal Pay Day.
“Today is Equal Pay Day – the date, 74 days into 2022, when women’s wages finally catch up to what men were paid in the previous year. For women of color, that gap is even larger.
“On average, women are still only paid 83 cents for every dollar paid to a man, a yearly pay difference of nearly $14,000. In California, the wage gap means that even when women work full time for the whole year, they only earn 88 cents to the dollar of what men earn—and Black and Hispanic women in our state only earn 59 and 42 cents to the dollar (respectively).
“America has relied on generations of underpaid care work by women, in particular women of color, to keep our economy going—and this dynamic has only been exacerbated by COVID-19. It is more critical than ever that we build a care system that lowers costs for families and lets women stay in the workforce; support more pathways into a diverse range of high-paying careers for women; and pay women a fair wage for the essential work they’re already doing. On Equal Pay day, Congress and the Biden administration must recommit to addressing these longstanding inequities and build an economy that is fair, inclusive, and resilient.”
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Congresswoman Lee is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and Chair of the Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations. She serves as Co-Chair of the Steering & Policy Committee, former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Chair Emeritus of the Progressive Caucus, Co-Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Health Task Force, and Co-Chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus. She also serves as Chair of the Majority Leader’s Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity. As a member of the House Democratic Leadership, she is the highest ranking Black woman in the U.S. Congress.