Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) led 32 of her colleagues in introducing a resolution honoring Black Women’s Equal Pay Day. In the United States, Black women workers are paid just 66 cents for every dollar paid to non-Hispanic White men. If current trends continue, Black women will have to wait, on average, over 200 years to achieve equal pay. Continued disparities not only make it harder for Black women to survive and thrive, but also have a negative impact on the children, families and communities that rely on them. The House companion resolution is being led by U.S. Representative Alma Adams (D-N.C.-12).
“America is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, yet Black women still have to work seven months longer to earn what white men do,” said Senator Blunt Rochester. “The resolution we are introducing today acknowledges the ways Black women are being left behind in our economy and affirms our commitment to finally closing this persistent gap.”
“Today, we recognize the staggering wage inequity Black women face and recommit ourselves to addressing this injustice,” said Congresswoman Adams. “For too long, Black women have been forced to work twice as hard to get half as far, facing steep barriers, discrimination, and lack of opportunity to succeed. We cannot afford to wait 200 years to be paid what we’re owed. I’m proud to introduce this resolution and continue our fight for wage equity in America.”
“The wage gap is a persistent issue that cuts across regions, degrees, and job titles. For Black women, no level of achievement, academic, professional, or otherwise, can help us achieve pay equity,” said Dr. Jamila K. Taylor, President and CEO of Institute for Women’s Policy Research. “The wage gap impacting Black women stems from deeply rooted structural racism and gender bias in our labor systems not from individual shortcomings. We must continue to shed light on these systemic issues so policymakers can act with greater clarity and purpose.”
“We thank Rep. Adams, Senator Blunt Rochester, and all the cosponsors of the Black Women’s Equal Pay Day Resolution,” said Noreen Farrell, Executive Director, Equal Rights Advocates & Chair, Equal Pay Today Campaign. “This resolution acknowledges that Black women continue to be underpaid, undervalued, and overrepresented in low paid jobs. Millions of working women nationwide join the call for long overdue and commonsense policy reforms that let Black women care for their families, build economic security and wealth, and advance at work. These include pay transparency, paid family leave, and raising wages. It is about fairness, and it is about time.”
“Recently, economic disparities for Black women have been compounded by the Trump Administration firing federal workers, ending government contract employment opportunities, and attacking the very diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that make our workforce so strong,” said Deborah J. Vagins, National Campaign Director, Equal Rights Advocates & Director, Equal Pay Today Campaign. “For this Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, we are calling attention to the egregious wage gaps Black women already face, and are demanding an end to the attack on Black women’s economic security by urging Congress to protect inclusive programs, preserve federal jobs, and strengthen the workplace rights that benefit all workers.”
“Black women, who live at the intersections of race, gender and other identities, have been failed by our country’s lack of institutional, structural and policy supports that are essential to achieving meaningful economic stability,” said Jocelyn C. Frye, President of the National Partnership for Women & Families. “While Black women often have had among the highest labor force participation for women, their work has been systematically devalued, and they must navigate hurtful stereotypes that diminish their skills and work ethic. Black women are important engines driving our economy, strengthening our workplaces, and sustaining our families. Instead of working to pass policies that would help Black women workers – like the Paycheck Fairness Act and investments in the care economy – this Administration is pushing harmful actions that will make matters worse, eliminating civil rights protections, attacking efforts to expand opportunities and combat longstanding disparities, and discouraging positive efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that make our workforce so strong. On this Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, we thank Congresswoman Alma Adams, Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester and all of our champions in Congress who are fighting for pay equity for Black women.”
“Black women should not have to work more than half the year just to catch up to what white men earned in the previous year,” said Melanie Campbell, President and CEO of National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and National Convenor of the Black Women’s Roundtable. “Yet here we are, marking Black Women’s Equal Pay Day at a time when the stakes could not be higher. This month alone has shown us the real consequences of reckless cuts to the federal workforce — from failures in weather preparedness to persistently high unemployment rates among Black women. Just this week, the Supreme Court opened the door for even deeper cuts to the federal workforce, which will hurt all Americans, but disproportionately harm women and communities of color. Black women are also bearing the brunt of ongoing attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Congress can and must act — by investing in quality job creation, ensuring livable wages, enacting equitable workplace policies, expanding access to affordable childcare, and guaranteeing universal paid leave. That’s how we close the wage gap — not just for Black women, but for all women.”
Joining Blunt Rochester in cosponsoring this resolution are U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
The following organizations have endorsed Blunt Rochester’s resolution: Equal Pay Today, Equal Rights Advocates, Family Values @ Work, National Partnership for Women and Families, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, A Better Balance, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Black Women’s Roundtable, Women Employed, National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, National Council of Jewish Women, Shriver Center on Poverty Law, American Association of University Women, ERA Coalition, Legal Momentum – The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, National Council of Negro Women, National Black Worker Center, Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable, Oxfam America, NAACP, Maine Women’s Lobby & MWL Education Fund, Pro-Choice North Carolina, 9to5, National Urban League.
The full text of the resolution can be found HERE.
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Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester represents Delaware in the United States Senate where she serves on the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Environment and Public Works; and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.