KITCHEN PROMOTES EQUAL PAY FOR WORKING WOMEN

          HARRISBURG, April 24: State Sen. Shirley M. Kitchen (D-Philadelphia) has joined state Sen. Jane Orie (R-Allegheny) and a number of other legislators, as well as prominent statewide women’s organizations, in supporting a resolution designating April 24 as Equal Pay Day in Pennsylvania. 

          The resolution, which is introduced annually, draws attention to the persistent gap in wages between men and women and to show support for national efforts to close the wage gap.

          “By designating Equal Pay Day in Pennsylvania, we are sending a message to employers that it’s time to start bringing the salaries of women — who do the same job as their male colleagues — to a level paying field,” Kitchen said. “Since Congress signed the Equal Pay Act in 1983, the wage gap has been closing, but very slowly.”

          Nationwide, women make an average of 77 cents for every dollar a man earns doing the same job.

          In Pennsylvania, that percentage is even lower: 73.8 cents for every dollar. It takes an extra quarter-year for a woman to earn what a man does in just 12 months.

          For women of color, the wage gap is even wider.

          “African-American women earn just 66 cents for every dollar a white man earns. That’s a $12,000 wage gap every year,” Kitchen said. “Latina women earn just 55 cents for every dollar.”

          Equal pay is a family issue, the senator explained.

          “The wage gap means a smaller savings account. It means less money to set aside for their children’s college. It means a larger mortgage,” Kitchen said. “And it could lead to more debt.

          “These issues are twice as difficult for single working moms, who take on the obligations and responsibilities of both mother and father on their salary,” Kitchen said.

          The wage gap extends to retirement years. Because women are paid less, they receive smaller retirement pensions and Social Security checks.

          “A woman earning less than a man in the same occupation does not stop at retirement,” Orie said. “Equal pay disparity follows a woman into retirement as her benefits are based on the salary she earned while employed. It is time to change the stigma of poverty for many women working to support their families and pay an equal wage for an equal job.”