Paycheck Fairness

 

“I’d make a $10,000 bet that Mitt Romney won’t say where he stands on fair pay because he opposes it,” said EMILY’s List president Stephanie Schriock. “The wage gap costs women an average of over $10,000 a year. That’s betting cash to Romney, but women need that money for groceries, gas, and saving for their families’ futures. Opposing a sensible law that works to end unfair and expensive discrimination is a loser with women voters. Romney knows that, so he’s choosing not to tell us where he stands. That’s just cowardly.”

 

It is cowardly, and not at all Presidential, to not support a bill that is designed to ensure equality and create better economic circumstances for women and their families in this country. The impact of the Pay Gap is real and affects how women can support themselves, their families, and their future retirement. You’ll see in our infographic below that this is more than just identifying women as part of a statistic. When you look at real professions women hold, you see how their lives are impacted not just statistically, but on a weekly basis. 

 

 

Less money, all for the same work. Senator Barbara Mikulski spoke passionately about this on the Senate floor yesterday:

 

For my colleagues who argue the 20 cents per hour doesn't matter, let me give you some numbers. That means $4,000 less per year for a working family; $434,000 a year over a lifetime. This means we get paid 23% less than a man making -- doing the same work who has the same education. You know what, Mr. President? You're a smart guy. You know when we go to get a mortgage, we don't get a 23% discount. When we go to buy food, we don't get a 23% discount. When we go to pay our utility bills, they don't say ‘you're paid less; we're going to give you a discount.’ No. We get charged the same and often more for what we do, but we're paid less. Well, we're not going to accept being paid less. We're paying attention to this problem, and we've listened to the voices of the people. This isn't just Senator Barb sounding off on her women's agenda. My women's rights agenda is about the economic power of women, if they have a chance in this great country to be able to move ahead.

 

This year, we have the chance to elect 11 pro-choice, Democratic women to the Senate. That number of women Senate candidates is unprecedented for EMILY’s List. More women in the Senate means more opportunities to fundamentally change how Washington works. Making sure women get paid the same as men for the same work should be an obvious move for the Senate, not a partisan split. Our women in the Senate will make sure to stop the anti-women legislation and create a pro-women, pro-families agenda.