The US House Education and Workforce Subcommittee on Workforce Protection held its second hearing yesterday on the Paycheck Fairness Act (HR 1338). Representative Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT), who introduced the bill, said in her written testimony, “In the more than ten years, I have spent working on these issues, we were not able to get a hearing on the bill. Now we have had two hearings in just three months. I am very proud of the momentum we are building.”
Dr. Evelyn Murphy, a PhD economist, the former Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, and current president of The WAGE (Women Are Getting Even) Project, also testified at the hearing. Dr. Murphy explained that the existing gender wage gap will result in a young woman graduating from high school today making $700,000 less over the 35 years a woman typically works than a young man graduating at the same time. The disparity increases for women college graduates, who will lose $1.2 million over their work lives, and for those with law, medical, or MBA degrees, who will make $2 million less than their male counterparts.
With 224 cosponsors, it is anticipated that the Paycheck Fairness Act will be voted on in the House in the near future. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act in the Senate (S 766), where it currently has 22 cosponsors.
