On Equal Pay Day, Representative Sherrill Highlights the Need to Close the Wage Gap as Country Looks Towards Economic Recovery After the Pandemic 

Economic Fallout from the COVID-19 Pandemic Disproportionately Affected Women Across the Country

Parsippany, NJ — Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) released the following statement today on Equal Pay Day to highlight the gender disparity in income in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District and across the country.

“The wage gap isn’t just a women’s issue, it’s an economic issue, a family issue, and an equity issue,” said Rep. Sherrill. “Based on median annual earnings, women in the NJ-11th district who work full-time make on average around $20,000 less than men. The gap is even worse for women of color across all fields and all industries. After decades of this fight, it is unconscionable that we’re still having the same conversation about equal pay. The past year has only made the impacts starker as women bore the brunt of the pandemic’s economic fallout. Women, and disproportionately women of color, experienced higher rates of layoffs, largely carried the burden of child care in the wake of school and day care closures, and risked their lives as essential, frontline workers. As we look towards economic recovery after this crisis, now is the time to take the steps necessary to finally close the gap once and for all.”

Equal Pay Day was created to highlight how far into the year women have to work to match what men earned the year before. This year, it is today, March 24.

Rep. Sherrill is a sponsor of the The Equal Pay Day Resolution, which outlines the legal provisions that are in place to prevent pay discrimination, highlights that despite these laws, women are still paid at lower rates than men, specifies the pay disparities between men and women of color, outlines the outsized impact women have on the economy and the benefits equal pay would have on the economy, outlines the harms imposed by pay discrimination, and reaffirms congressional commitment to equal pay.

Rep. Sherrill was also a proponent of the bill which extended the deadline for states to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, which ensures that women have protection under the Constitution to combat pay discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, and sexual and domestic violence. It has had bipartisan support for decades, both in Congress and states across the country. The amendment is backed by an overwhelming majority of American voters, including near universal support among younger voters. There is a renewed push in support of the amendment in states that have yet to ratify it and this month’s vote to remove the deadline helps keep the pathway to ratification open.

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