IV 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 24 

Recognizing the significance of equal pay and the disparity between wages 

paid to men and women. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 23, 2021 

Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida (for herself, Ms. DELAURO, Mrs. LAWRENCE, 

Ms. ADAMS, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Ms. BASS, Mrs. 

BEATTY, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. 

BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BROWN, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms. BUSH, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. 

BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CASE, Ms. CASTOR of 

Florida, Ms. CHU, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. 

CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. 

COOPER, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DEAN, Mr. 

DEFAZIO, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. 

DEUTCH, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. 

ESCOBAR, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mrs. FLETCHER, Mr. GALLEGO, 

Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, 

Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. HOULAHAN, Ms. 

JACKSON LEE, Ms. JACOBS of California, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. JOHNSON

of Texas, Mr. JONES, Mr. KAHELE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KEATING, Ms. 

KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KILMER, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. 

KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. LEGER

FERNANDEZ, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. LIEU, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. 

LYNCH, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. SEAN PATRICK

MALONEY of New York, Ms. MANNING, Ms. MATSUI, Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. 

MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MENG, 

Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. MOULTON, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. NEWMAN, Mr. NORCROSS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. 

OMAR, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. 

POCAN, Ms. PORTER, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. 

QUIGLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. ROSS, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RUSH, Mr. 

RYAN, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. SCHRIER, 

Ms. SEWELL, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. 

SPEIER, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. 

TITUS, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. TORRES of New York, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. 

VARGAS, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. WATSON


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COLEMAN, Mr. WELCH, Ms. WEXTON, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. 

WILSON of Florida, Mr. YARMUTH, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, and Miss RICE of New York) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the significance of equal pay and the disparity 

between wages paid to men and women. 

Whereas section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(d)(1)) prohibits discrimination in 

compensation for equal work on the basis of sex; 

Whereas title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

2000e et seq.) prohibits discrimination in compensation 

because of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex; 

Whereas over 5 decades after the passage of the Equal Pay 

Act of 1963 (29 U.S.C. 206 note), Census Bureau data 

show that women working full-time, year-round are paid 

an average of 82 cents for every dollar paid to men, while 

Asian-American women working full-time, year-round are 

paid 87 cents, White, non-Hispanic women working fulltime, year-round are paid 79 cents, African-American 

women working full-time, year-round are paid 63 cents, 

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women working 

full-time, year-round are paid 60 cents, American Indian 

and Alaska Native women working full-time, year-round 

are paid 60 cents, and Latinas working full-time, yearround are paid 55 cents for every dollar paid to White, 

non-Hispanic men; 


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Whereas March 24, 2021, is Equal Pay Day, marking the 

day that symbolizes how long into 2021 women must 

work to make what men were paid in 2020; 

Whereas March 9, 2021, is Asian American and Pacific Islander Women’s Equal Pay Day; August 3, 2021, is 

Black Women’s Equal Pay Day; September 8, 2021, is 

Native Women’s Equal Pay Day; and October 21, 2021, 

is Latinas’ Equal Pay Day; 

Whereas if current trends continue, Asian women are projected to close the gender pay gap in 22 years, White 

women in 50 years, Black women in 350 years, and 

Latinas in 432 years; 

Whereas the disparity in median annual earnings for women 

and men working full-time, year-round is $10,157; which 

can add up to more than $400,000 over a career; 

Whereas women’s median earnings are less than men’s at 

every level of academic achievement, with women with 

less than a high school diploma earning 72 percent of 

men’s earnings, and women with a professional degree 

earning 68 percent of men’s earnings at the same level 

of education; 

Whereas women are often paid less than men with lower levels of education, with women with associate’s degrees 

paid less than men with a high school diploma, and 

women with master’s degrees paid less than men with 

bachelor’s degrees; 

Whereas in the United States, mothers are breadwinners in 

nearly half of families with children under 18, and mothers working full-time typically are paid 75 percent of 

what fathers are paid; 


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Whereas the gender wage gap collectively costs women employed full-time in the United States more than $956 billion in annual lost wages, so that families have less 

money to spend on goods and services that help drive 

economic growth; 

Whereas if the annual gender wage gap were eliminated, on 

average, a working woman in the United States would 

have enough money for approximately 13 more months of 

childcare, 9 additional months of rent, 6 additional 

months of mortgage and utilities payments, the full cost 

of tuition and fees for attending a 2-year college, almost 

7 additional months of premiums for employer-based 

health insurance, more than 8 additional years of birth 

control, more than 64 weeks of food, or enough money 

to pay off student loan debt in just under 3 years; 

Whereas women hold two-thirds of the Nation’s $1.54 trillion 

in outstanding student loan debt, totaling over $929 billion, and are less likely to be able to pay off their student 

loan debt promptly due to wage disparities; 

Whereas the wage gap impacts women’s ability to save for retirement and women’s total Social Security and pension 

benefits, and older women are more likely than men to 

live in poverty; 

Whereas sex discrimination in education, hiring, and promotion has played a role in maintaining a workforce segregated by sex; 

Whereas sex-based wage differentials— 

(1) depress employee wages and living standards 

necessary for health and well-being; 


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(2) reduce family incomes and contribute to the 

higher poverty rates among women and their families; 

and 

(3) prevent the effective and maximum utilization of 

available labor resources; 

Whereas a wage gap exists in nearly every occupational field, 

but opening traditionally male-dominated jobs to women 

and reducing occupational segregation by sex increases 

earnings for women; 

Whereas nearly two-thirds of workers paid the minimum 

wage or less are women and the concentration of women 

in low-wage jobs is a significant contributor to the wage 

gap; 

Whereas the gender wage gap between union women and men 

is about half the size of the wage gap between nonunion 

women and men, and women union members typically 

earn $212 more per week than women who are not represented by unions; 

Whereas as much as 38 percent of the wage gap is unexplained by observable factors such as variation in educational attainment, industry, and occupation, and may 

reflect discrimination; 

Whereas two-thirds of private sector workers report that employers either prohibit or discourage them from discussing their pay, which can keep the existence of pay 

discrimination hidden and prevent remedying that discrimination; 

Whereas the lack of family friendly policies, such as access 

to affordable, quality childcare, paid family and medical 

leave, paid sick days, and fair and predictable work 

schedules, forces many caregivers to choose between proVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HC24.IH HC24

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viding for their families financially and ensuring their 

loved ones receive quality care, and contributes to the 

wage gap; 

Whereas one in three women have been on the receiving end 

of sexual harassment during their careers, and an estimated 87 to 94 percent of those who experience sexual 

harassment never file a formal complaint; 

Whereas workplace harassment forces many women to leave 

their occupation or industry, or pass up opportunities for 

advancement, and this contributes to the gender wage 

gap; 

Whereas equal pay strengthens the economic security of families and enhances retirement savings; 

Whereas when women are paid fairly, families are stronger, 

businesses prosper, and American values and the economy are strengthened; 

Whereas if women in the United States received equal pay 

comparable with men, poverty for working women would 

be reduced by half and the economy would add $5.12 billion annually, based on a 2017 analysis; 

Whereas the economic fallout from the COVID–19 pandemic 

has had a disproportionate impact on women and women 

of color, with women losing the majority of jobs lost since 

March 2020; 

Whereas since women earn less on average than their male 

partners, three times more women than men have left the 

workforce to look after their children who are learning 

from home; 

Whereas women and women of color are now experiencing the 

lowest rates of employment in decades; and 


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Whereas numerous national organizations have designated 

Wednesday, March 24, 2021, as Equal Pay Day to represent the additional time that women must work to compensate for the average 18 percent lower wages paid to 

women last year: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

3 (1) recognizes the disparity between wages paid 

4 to women and men and its impact on women, fami5 lies, and the Nation; and 

6 (2) reaffirms its commitment to supporting 

7 equal pay and to narrowing the gender wage gap. 

Æ 


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