Scanlon: Low Minimum Wage Exacerbates Gender Pay Gap in PA
Chester, PA,
March 15, 2022
Chester, PA – Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05) issued the following statement in recognition of Equal Pay Day, the day that marks how far into the new year the average woman must work to match what her male counterparts made the year before: “For generations, we’ve relied on the underpaid work of women to keep our economy going. In 2022, this imbalance still persists. The gender pay gap this year means that it takes women in America who work full-time, year-round, all the way until March 15, 2022 to earn what men finished making by the end of the previous year. That’s 83 cents to the dollar. For many women of color, the gap is larger. “In Pennsylvania, the situation is even worse — driven by our embarrassingly-low minimum wage of $7.25-per-hour, which hasn’t increased in more than 15 years. Our wage gap means that even when women work full-time for the whole year, they only earn 79 cents to the dollar of what men earn. Black women in Pennsylvania earn 67 cents to the dollar, and Hispanic women earn just 55 cents to the dollar. “As we work to build an economy that is fair, inclusive, and resilient, we must seize the opportunity to address deep and longstanding inequities that created this pay gap and continue to hold back working women and their families. “It’s way past time to ensure women finally receive equal pay for equal work. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania can start by raising our minimum wage so women in our communities actually have a fighting chance to support themselves and their families. We also need action from the U.S. Senate, where the GOP continues to block a vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act. We need to do this for our mothers, sisters, daughters, neighbors, colleagues, and generations of American women still to come.”###
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