SCR 30, Jackson. Equal Pay Day.
This measure would declare April 9, 2013, as Equal Pay Day.
WHEREAS, Fifty years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act, women, especially women of color, continue to suffer the consequences of unequal pay; and
WHEREAS, According to the United States Census Bureau, full-time women working year round in 2011 earned on average 77 percent of the earnings of their male counterparts, with African American women earning only 68 percent and Latino women earning only 59 percent of wages paid to men, indicating little change or progress in pay equity; and
WHEREAS, While several measures of educational achievement show that on average women are faring as well as their male counterparts today, often these gains do not translate into comparable economic success beyond college; and
WHEREAS, A study in 2012 by the American Association of University Women found that one year after college graduation, women were paid on average only 82 percent of what their male counterparts made; and
WHEREAS, In 2009 the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was signed into law, which gives back to employees their day in court to challenge a pay gap, but Congress has yet to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would amend the Equal Pay Act by closing loopholes and improving the law’s effectiveness; and
WHEREAS, According to one estimate, college-educated women working full time earn more than one-half million dollars less than their male peers do over the course of a lifetime; and
WHEREAS, Recent budget cuts to California’s community colleges have made it harder for women to obtain a degree or enroll in courses resulting in a dramatic decrease of women’s enrollment in community colleges since 2007; and
WHEREAS, Nearly 4 in 10 mothers are primary breadwinners in their households, and nearly two-thirds are significant earners, making pay equity critical to families’ economic security; and
WHEREAS, A lifetime of lower pay means women have less income to save for retirement and less income counted in a Social Security or pension benefit formula; and
WHEREAS, The American Association of University Women in a 2011 report found that according to the United States Census Bureau, women marketing and sales managers earned $59,491 in 2009, compared with $89,933 for their male peers; women physicians and surgeons earned $120,971, compared with $190,726 for their male peers; and women securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents earned $52,524, compared to $85,760 for their male peers; 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, Tuesday, April 9, 2013, symbolizes the time when the wages paid to American women catch up to the wages paid to men from the previous year; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature declares April 9, 2013, as Equal Pay Day; and be it further
Resolved, That the citizens of California are urged to recognize the full value of women’s skills and significant contributions to the labor force, and that businesses are encouraged to conduct an internal pay evaluation to ensure women are being paid fairly; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
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