WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., commented about Equal Pay Day, which marks the amount of time the average American woman must work in order to earn the same amount of money her male colleagues were paid in the previous calendar year.
While Tuesday marked Equal Pay Day for all women, the pay gap disproportionately hurts women of color—who have to work even longer to close the wage gap. Casey joined all Senate Democrats in introducing the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation that would combat wage discrimination and help close the wage gap by strengthening the Equal Pay Act of 1963, ensuring women can challenge pay discriminations and hold employers accountable.
“The gender pay gap hurts women at every stage of their careers. By the time the average woman reaches retirement age, she is not as well-equipped as her male counterparts to retire comfortably. The divide is even wider for women of color,” said Casey. “Every year the pay gap exists makes it harder for women to raise a family, save for the future, and retire securely. Today and every day, I am committed to rooting out the causes of the gender pay gap and advancing equality and equity for women in the workplace.”
As Chairman of the Special Committee on Aging, Casey led a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) asking the agency to examine the impact of the pay gap between men and women, considering the ability of women to save for retirement.
The letter noted that the wage gap harms women’s ability to save for retirement, and women age 65 or older have less retirement income and are more likely to live in poverty than men. Because Social Security benefits are based on a worker’s earnings, the pay gap means that women receive lower benefits in retirement than men. In light of this, Casey and his colleagues ask the GAO to ask older women about their experiences with pay discrimination and the impact it has had on their ability to save for a secure retirement.
