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Business and Professional Women Calls for Passage of Paycheck Fairness Act
Business and Professional Women Calls for Passage of Paycheck Fairness Act
Working Women Around the Country Commemorate Equal Pay Day
Washington, DC April 28, 2009 – This week, Business and Professional Women and working women advocates
around the country are mobilizing to recognize Equal Pay Day and call attention to the persistent and
sizable gap between men’s and women’s wages. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, on average full-time
working women earned 78 cents to every dollar earned by men. The gap is even worse for women of color. On
average, women lose $9,575 per year and $434,000 over a career due to the wage gap; this loss increases with
career advancement.
“Once again working women around the country will be commemorating Equal Pay Day and the persistent wage
gap it represents. It is frustrating that forty-six years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act, women
still make 22 percent less men,” said Deborah L. Frett, CEO of Business and Professional Women. “Eliminating
the wage gap is good for families and for business, especially during a recession. That is why we encourage
the Senate to quickly pass the Paycheck Fairness Act which strengthens the Equal Pay Act and guarantees that
women workers are not shortchanged solely because of their gender.”
“The wage gap not only impacts the economic security of women and their families today, but follows them
into retirement defining their families’ financial future. Women and their families can no longer afford to
be shortchanged.” said Diane Polangin, president of Business and Professional Women.
Equal Pay Day is held annually in April to signify the point into a year that a woman must work to earn what
a man made the previous year. Equal Pay Day is a national day of action for Business and Professional Women
and hundreds of other women’s, civil rights, labor, and community organizations who support fair pay.
“Many employers recognize that eliminating pay differentials is key to creating a successful workplace and
that pay equity can help with competitiveness, worker retention and productivity,” continued Frett.
Business and Professional Women is co-sponsoring a Congressional Briefing on the Paycheck Fairness Act (S.
182) on Thursday, April 30, 2009 from 2 - 4pm ET in the 430 Dirkson Senate Office Building, in Washington,
D.C. For more information, contact policy@bpwusa.org.
Business and Professional Women (BPW) is transforming today’s workplaces by focusing on issues that
impact women, families and employers. With 143 years of experience, BPW is historically a leader in
grassroots activism, policy influence and advocacy for millions of working women.
BPW engages women, employers and policy makers, to inspire collaboration, create change and expand options
for more equitable and successful workplaces. Successful Workplaces are those that embrace and practice
diversity, equity and work life balance.
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