FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 8, 2014

Assembly Celebrates National Equal Pay Day 2014


Speaker Sheldon Silver joined today with Assemblymember Michelle Titus, chair of the Legislative Women's Caucus, to celebrate National Equal Pay Day. The Assembly passed a resolution recognizing the value of women's skills and significant contributions to the workforce (K.1034).

"We need to ensure equal pay for equal work among all of New York's residents," Speaker Silver said. "The increasing number of single mother households makes it even more imperative that we close the wage gap once and for all. Working mothers shouldn't have to struggle to provide for their families because they aren't earning as much as their male counterparts."

National Equal Pay Day was established to highlight the gender wage gap as women are still paid less than men for comparable work. Celebrated on the second Tuesday in April to signify how far in the year that women have to work just to earn as much as their male counterparts earned the previous year, this day is a reminder that there is still work to be done for women to achieve full equality.

On average, in 2012, women earned only 77 percent of what men earned. The wage gap remains an even more significant hurdle for African American women, who earn 62 percent of their male counterparts, as well as Hispanic women, who earn only 54 percent of what their male colleagues make.

"Although we have made great strides to close the gender wage gap, we still have a long way to go until women are paid what they deserve. It's been nearly 50 years since the National Equal Pay Act was implemented and the Civil Rights Act outlawed wage disparities, yet the problem still persists. It is our responsibility to ensure that all citizens in New York are treated equally," said Titus.