“Today is Disabled Women’s Equal Pay Day, when we focus on the shameful fact that women with disabilities in our country are paid just over half of what men without disabilities are paid each year. There are more than 3.9 million women with disabilities in our nation’s workforce who do vitally important work yet, including those who work part-time and part-year, they are paid just 56 cents for every dollar paid to men without disabilities. Among full-time, year-round workers, women with disabilities are paid just 68 cents for every dollar paid to men without disabilities, and 81 cents for every dollar paid to men with disabilities. As is the case with all gender-based wage gaps, the numbers are even more horrendous for women of color. The lost wages for women with disabilities who work full-time amount to more than $20,000 per year – and that is money women need, especially now with the cost of groceries, rent, child care, and other necessities soaring.

“These wage gaps are punitive, outrageous, and simply unacceptable. They result from our disgraceful failure to stop ableism, sexism, racism, and other forms of discrimination, and to prioritize pay equity. It’s past time for that to change. We urge Congress to help end segregated workplaces and prohibit subminimum wages for women with disabilities by passing the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act (TCIEA), to reverse the devastating cuts to Medicaid, and to pass the Protecting Healthcare and Lowering Costs Act.

“Moms also want the Trump administration to end its ugly, damaging attacks on workers with disabilities, equal employment, and inclusion. That begins by ensuring the U.S. Department of Labor does not rescind Executive Order 11246 regulations, or roll back critical Rehabilitation Act Section 503 protections, which prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities in employment by federal contractors and subcontractors. America’s moms know that women with disabilities are working, parenting, caregiving, and contributing every single day—often in a world that still refuses to acknowledge or fairly value their work. Moms want our leaders to root out ableism and all forms of discrimination. We know families, our economy, and our country will be stronger when we do.”