Today on Equal Pay Day, the Paycheck Fairness Act is being introduced to help close the wage gap that still exists today for women to boost broader economic prospects for everyone.

“Equal pay is vital to women, their families and the broader economy.  Paychecks for women continue to lag and it is past time to fix the inequity -- that is why I am cosponsoring the Paycheck Fairness Act,” said U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14). “Women who work full-time, year-round on average still earn only 80 cents for every $1 earned by men, even 54 years after the enactment of the Equal Pay Act. This gap means less money for women over their lifetimes, as the ripple effects of unequal pay impact Social Security benefits and retirement plans based on average salary. The Paycheck Fairness Act strengthens and closes loopholes in the Equal Pay Act of 1963.”

In Florida, the gender wage gap is narrower but remains significant -- women’s median earnings are $35,604, or 87 percent compared to men’s median earnings. The gap in Florida would cost a woman $220,040 over a 40-year career, when compared to a man, according to the National Women’s Law Center. The wage gap spikes for women of color, where in Florida, Hispanic women earn 68 percent and Black women earn 70 percent of White men’s earnings (Source: 2011-2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates).

Among its key provisions, the Paycheck Fairness Act would:

• Require employers who try to justify paying a man more than a woman for the same job to show that the pay disparity is truly related to job performance, not gender
• Prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who discuss or disclose salary information with their coworkers
• Allow women to join together in class-action lawsuits where there are allegations of sex-based pay discrimination
• Strengthen the available remedies in pay discrimination cases to include punitive and compensatory damages, thus ensuring an adequate deterrent that also brings equal pay law into line with other civil rights laws
• Prohibit employers from seeking the salary history of prospective employees

Since being elected to Congress, U.S. Rep. Castor has consistently cosponsored the Paycheck Fairness Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. “Rather than working with Democrats to promote equal pay, it is unconscionable that House Republicans have voted nine times since 2013 to block the legislation from being considered on the House Floor.”

###