III

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. RES. 70

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding equal pay for equal work.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 10, 1997

Mr. DASCHLE (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. REID of Nevada,

Mr. HARKIN, Ms. LANDRIEU, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. DURBIN, Ms.

MOSELEY-BRAUN, Mr. KENNEDY, and Mr. KERRY of Massachusetts)

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee

on Labor and Human Resources

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding equal pay

for equal work.

Whereas, in recent years, the participation of women in the

workforce has increased dramatically, with women now

making up almost half of the workforce;

Whereas families in which both parents must work are the

norm;

Whereas in 1995, 72 percent of all 2-parent families with

children, or 18,000,000 such families, were supported by

a working mother and father;

Whereas many families depend on the pay of working women;
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•SRES 70 IS

Whereas some families depend wholly on women’s pay, with

22 percent of all families with children, or 7,600,000

such families, being headed by single mothers;

Whereas the inability to earn adequate pay is a burden for

an entire family and sometimes forces women onto public

assistance to provide for their families;

Whereas unfair pay disparities lead to inadequate savings for

retirement and lower pensions for women;

Whereas on average, during the period between 1955 and

1981, a woman earned only 60 cents for each dollar

earned by a man;

Whereas on average a woman earned 63.9 cents for each dollar earned by a man in 1955, a figure that improved only

to 71.4 cents for each such dollar in 1997, with a woman

of color earning even less;

Whereas this improvement equals an average annual increase

of only 0.28 percent from 1955 to 1997;

Whereas much of this improvement has resulted from a decline in men’s real pay and, if men’s real pay had not declined, there would have been a much smaller increase in

women’s pay relative to men’s pay;

Whereas working women have benefited the United States

economy enormously;

Whereas the provision of equal pay helps business by improving productivity and reducing employee turnover;

Whereas the pay disparities cost the economy

$130,000,000,000 in lost purchasing power per year;

Whereas ensuring equal pay is a high priority for working

women and their families;
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•SRES 70 IS

Whereas it took a woman, on average, from January 1, 1996,

to April 11, 1997, to receive as much pay as a man received in 1996 alone; and

Whereas April 11 is being recognized as National Pay Inequity Awareness Day: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that—

2 (1) women have made great contributions to the

3 United States workforce and the United States econ4 omy and should be paid fairly and have the same ac5 cess to education and training as men;

6 (2) all employers, in the public and private sec7 tors, should comply with Federal and State law re8 quiring equal pay for equal work;

9 (3) many employers have made serious efforts

10 to provide equal pay and should be commended for

11 those efforts; and

12 (4) all employers should address unequal pay in

13 their workplaces and ensure that working families

14 can prosper.

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