NOW New Jersey and National Organization for Women Observe Moms Equal Pay Day

Fifty-six years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act, women are still fighting for pay equity. Often the primary caregivers for their families, women are not only affected by the pay gap, they must also pay a professional price for taking time off from work to perform these unpaid responsibilities. On Moms Equal Pay Day, Anjali Mehrotra, President of the National Organization for Women of New Jersey says, “In New Jersey we have seen several pieces of legislation passed recently that speak to this issue. The Equal Pay Act, the Earned Sick Leave Law and the expansion of Family Leave are all steps in the right direction. We need to keep pushing for job protection, ending pregnancy discrimination and providing affordable options for childcare if we truly want workplaces where women are not forced to choose between having a family and having a career.”

National NOW has also issued the following statement from President Toni Van Pelt.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This June 10th, NOW recognizes both the 56th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act as well as Moms Equal Pay Day. While the Equal Pay Act helped to narrow the wage gap, the data still demonstrates that women face pay discrimination, especially if they are mothers.

Moms Equal Pay Day recognizes that being a mother is a greater indicator than gender when it comes to wage disparities. Even as more and more mothers become the breadwinners for their family, mothers are still only paid 69¢ for every dollar a father is paid.

Closing this wage gap would mean that women’s poverty rate is cut in half. On average, women employed full time in the U.S. are losing an astonishing combined total of almost $900 billion every year due to the wage gap. This vital additional income could be used towards childcare, healthcare, and education ー all important aspects to raising a happy, healthy family.

The wage gap widens for Black, Latino, and Native American moms who are paid 54¢, 46¢, and 48¢ respectively, for every dollar earned by white, non-Hispanic dads. Additionally, data on undocumented immigrants, the LGBTQIA+ community, and women with disabilities is not known.

On this Moms Equal Pay Day, NOW strongly advocates for the Paycheck Fairness Act which updates the Equal Pay Act and was recently passed by the House of Representatives. We urge legislation that requires equal pay for “substantially similar” work be adopted. NOW is also committed to achieving work equity by supporting movements to gain access to paid leave, paid sick days, affordable childcare, affordable healthcare and other important protections needed by working parents. It is time that women stop being punished for being mothers. We must end disparities in wage equity now.

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For more information about NOW New Jersey, please visit www.nownj.org.

NOW-NJ National Organization for Women | New Jersey

About National Organization for Women of New Jersey (NOW-NJ) The purpose of NOW-NJ is to take action through intersectional grassroots activism to promote feminist ideals, lead societal change, eliminate discrimination, and achieve and protect the equal rights of all women and girls in all aspects of social, political, and economic life