“In every corner of the country, as families are being crushed by soaring costs and a worsening care crisis, Equal Pay Day is a searing reminder that women and moms must navigate these affordability challenges without the full paychecks we deserve. Women working full-time and year-round in the United States are paid just 81 cents for every dollar paid to men. That figure widens to a disgraceful 76 cents on the dollar when part-time and seasonal workers are included – roles many women must take because they are juggling work with family caregiving. Moms are shortchanged even more severely: Overall, moms are paid just 64 cents on the dollar paid to dads. And due to structural racism, the wage gap is more punitive still for women and moms of color. Addressing these shameful disparities should be a top priority for every lawmaker. 

“We need bold action from Congress to put an end to unfair pay including passing the policies that research shows will help close the wage gap most quickly – child care, paid family and medical leave, health care, and earned sick days – and we can’t make progress without accurate data to inform our policies. Much of what we know about how the wage gap harms women, families and our economy comes from the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission’s (EEOC’s) EEO-1 data collection, which has tracked wage data since the 1960s without interruption. Now, the Trump administration is launching an unprecedented attack on working women by not only defunding or blocking the care policies that our nation needs, but also by threatening to rescind this essential data collection. Erasing wage gap data won’t make the problem go away – instead, by reducing transparency, it is likely to make pay disparities even more severe. 

“Moms are demanding the EEOC continue to collect critical wage data and restore other worker protections that have been dismantled since President Trump took office. Our nation’s leaders should be passing and implementing policies that lower costs, lift families, boost our economy, and open opportunity for all. By gutting the EEOC, Trump has sent us backwards in this fight – but moms will not stop organizing until everyone is paid fairly, and families, businesses, and our economy can thrive.”

 – Statement of Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director and CEO, MomsRising

“The wage gap makes it harder for families to afford the basics we need to build good lives, and the harm it causes ripples throughout our communities and our economy. For women of color and other marginalized groups, that harm is particularly extreme: Black women are paid just 63 cents on the dollar compared to White men, Latina women just 54 cents, Native women 53 cents, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women 59 cents, and Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women overall are paid 83 cents. We won’t accept the wage gap as the fixture it has become. These shameful disparities are not inevitable – they persist year after year because lawmakers have failed to advance the policies we know would help address them.

“Instead of burying our heads in the sand by eliminating wage data, as the Trump administration is threatening to do, moms want our leaders to strengthen protections for workers and champion care policies including paid family and medical leave and investments in child care, elder care and disability care. Over and over again, these policies have been proven to help alleviate gender and racial disparities, make our workplaces more fair, and lift our economy. 

“Moms across the country are speaking out about our nation’s affordability crisis, which seems to worsen by the day. Erasing the wage gap and investing in care would be an enormous step forward and bring much-needed relief for working families.”

 -Statement of Taylor Austin, Campaign Director, Workplace Justice, MomsRising