Equal Pay Day April 14, 2015

PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, over forty years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, women and people of color continue to suffer the consequences of inequitable pay differentials; and

WHEREAS, according to statistics released in 2014 by the U.S. Census Bureau, year-round, full-time working women in 2013 earned only 78% of the earnings of year-round, full-time working men, indicating little change or progress in pay equity; and

WHEREAS, In 2013 for every dollar earned on average for the same or comparable job worked by a white, non-Hispanic man, Asian women earned 90 cents, African American Women earned 64 cents and Latina/Hispanic women earned only 54 cents; and

WHEREAS, although women contribute approximately half of the work force, a study of Fortune 500 companies in 2013 found that women held only 5.2% of chief executive posts (24 women), 14.6% of executive officers and 16.9% of corporate Board seats(Catalyst Census); and

WHEREAS, according to new Bureau of Labor statistics, in 2013 women doing the same jobs as or holding the same positions as men earned only one percentage point more than they had in 2012, thus making the wage gap as wide as it has been since 2005; and

WHEREAS, If the pace of change in the annual earnings ratio continues at the same rate it has since 1960, it will take almost 50 years—or until 2058 for women to reach parity(Institute for Women’s Policy Research); and

WHEREAS, over a working lifetime, wage disparity costs the average American woman working for 40 years and her family $464,320 in lost wages, impacting Social Security benefits and pensions; (National Women’s Law Center) and

WHEREAS, in a ranking from smallest gap to largest among all districts in Pennsylvania, PA Districts 5 and 17 (fill in your district) ranked 12th. Women earned 75% of what men earned. (AAUW: The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap); and

WHEREAS, fair pay equity policies can be implemented simply and without undue costs or hardship in both the public and private sectors; and

WHEREAS, fair pay strengthens the security of families today and eases future retirement costs, while enhancing the American economy; and

WHEREAS, Tuesday April 14. 2015 symbolizes the time in the new year in which the wages paid to American women catch up to the wages paid to men from the previous year,

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ______

do hereby proclaim Tuesday, April 14, 2015

EQUAL PAY DAY

in ______

and urge the citizens of ______

to recognize the full value of women’s skills and their significant contributions to the labor force, and further encourage businesses to conduct an internal pay evaluation to ensure women are being paid fairly.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the official seal of

______to be affixed.

Signature:

Date: