April 9, 2013, is Equal Pay Day. This means that in order to make the same salary in 2012 for working the same job as a man, the average woman needed to continue working until April 9, 2013 – an additional 99 days. This is because, despite recent gains, the average woman still makes only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes working the same job. The wage gap is not much smaller in Connecticut, where a woman makes just 78 percent of what a man makes for doing the same work.
I am proud to say that I have been fighting for equal pay since I started serving Southwest Connecticut in Congress four years ago. In 2009, I cast one of my first votes as Congressman for the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. This bill restored the right of women and other workers to challenge unfair pay. However, while we have made progress over the past few years, it is clear we have more work to do. That is why I am also pushing for passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 377), sponsored by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. This bill allows the victims of gender-based pay discrimination equal claim for civil action as those receiving discriminatory pay based on race. It also expands the basis by which discrimination can be claimed by broadening pay comparison methods and protecting employees who discuss pay information with each other from retaliation by their employer.
As a father of two girls, there is nothing I want more than to create a better future for the next generation of women. This Equal Pay Day, let us recommit ourselves to doing all that we can to make that future a reality. In the weeks and months ahead, I will continue fighting for equal pay and supporting legislation that gives women a fair shake.