III 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 50 

Recognizing the significance of equal pay and the disparity in wages paid 

to men as compared to wages paid to Latina women. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 8, 2022 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. PADILLA, 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BROWN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Mr. 

KAINE, Mr. KELLY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. 

MURRAY, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WARREN, 

and Mr. BENNET) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the significance of equal pay and the disparity 

in wages paid to men as compared to wages paid to 

Latina women. 

Whereas December 8, 2022, is Latina Equal Pay Day, the 

observance of which marks the fact that Latina women 

must work nearly an additional 11 months, on average, 

to be paid what White, non-Hispanic men were paid in 

2021; 

Whereas Latina women now make up the second largest 

group of women workers in the United States, after 

White women; 


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Whereas there are 12,800,000 Hispanic women in the labor 

force in the United States, representing slightly more 

than 17 percent of all women in that labor force today; 

Whereas the labor force participation rate of Latina women 

in 2021 was higher than that of their White counterparts, which reflects that a growing share of Latina 

women are either working or actively looking for work; 

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

1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(d)) (referred to in this preamble as 

‘‘section 6(d)’’) 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, despite section 6(d), which was first enacted as part 

of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (Public Law 88–38; 77 

Stat. 56) more than 5 decades ago and requires that men 

and women in the same workplace be given equal pay for 

equal work, data from the Bureau of the Census shows 

that Latina women working full-time, year-round are 

typically paid 57 cents for each dollar paid to White, 

non-Hispanic men, while the average wage differential for 

Latina women working full-time, part-time, and part-year 

is 54 cents for each dollar paid to White, non-Hispanic 

men; 

Whereas a study conducted in 2019 found that, on average, 

a Latina woman loses more than $1,000,000 dollars in 

potential earnings over her lifetime to the wage gap; 

Whereas the American Community Survey 2016–2020 reported that— 


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(1) the median annual pay for a Latina woman in 

the United States working full-time, year-round was 

$33,000; and 

(2) the median annual pay for all Latina women 

with reported earnings working full-time, part-time, or 

part-year was $25,312, placing a working mother with 2 

children near poverty; 

Whereas job loss during the COVID–19 pandemic distorted 

measurements of average wages, as women with lower 

earnings in sectors such as leisure, hospitality, and retail 

were more likely to experience job loss and leave the labor 

force; 

Whereas the unemployment rate of Latina women peaked at 

20.1 percent in April 2020, and the civilian labor force 

participation rate of Latina women fell from a high of 

59.2 percent in October 2019 to 57 percent in September 

2020; 

Whereas lost wages mean that Latina women have less 

money to support themselves and their families, save and 

invest for the future, and spend on goods and services; 

Whereas 51 percent of Latina women are unable to earn sick 

days through their jobs; 

Whereas more than 1⁄2 of low wage earners who are Latina 

women report that they spent most or all of their savings 

during the COVID–19 pandemic and 32 percent have no 

money left for emergencies, compared to 13 percent of 

White men who report that they have no money left for 

emergencies; 

Whereas the lack of affordable, accessible childcare during 

the COVID–19 pandemic led to 14 percent of Latina 

women, and 32 percent of immigrant Latina women, to 


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quit their jobs or reduce their number of work hours to 

care for their children. 

Whereas the underpayment of workers who are Latina 

women causes businesses and the economy of the United 

States to suffer; 

Whereas the lack of access to affordable, quality childcare, 

paid family and medical leave, and other family-friendly 

workplace policies forces many Latina women to choose 

between their paycheck or job and getting quality care 

for themselves or their family members, a dynamic that 

contributes to the wage gap and has been further exacerbated by the COVID–19 pandemic, especially as Latina 

women disproportionately work in essential jobs that put 

them at greater risk of exposure to COVID–19; 

Whereas, if the wage gap were eliminated, on average, a 

Latina woman working full-time, year-round would have 

enough money to afford approximately 3 years of 

childcare, to pay off her student debt in 1 year, or to pay 

off 19 months of the average mortgage payment; 

Whereas 25 to 85 percent of women have been sexually harassed at the workplace, and research has found that only 

about 1 in 10 women who experience harassment formally report those incidents for reasons that include lack 

of access to the complaints processes and fear of retaliation; 

Whereas workplace harassment forces many women to leave 

their occupation or industry or pass up opportunities for 

advancement, which contributes to the gender wage gap; 

Whereas targets of workplace harassment were 6.5 times 

more likely than non-targets to change jobs; 


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Whereas there is a high personal cost to women who have 

been sexually harassed, including unemployment, underemployment, and financial stress resulting from changing 

jobs, which leads to long-term consequences for earnings 

and career attainment; 

Whereas 2⁄3 of workers paid the minimum wage or less than 

the minimum wage in 2020 were women, and there is an 

overrepresentation of women of color in low wage and 

tipped occupations; 

Whereas the pay disparity that Latina women face is part of 

a wider set of disparities that Latina women encounter 

in homeownership, unemployment, poverty, access to 

childcare, and the ability to accumulate wealth; 

Whereas true pay equity requires a multifaceted strategy that 

addresses the gendered and racial injustices that Latina 

women face daily; and 

Whereas many national organizations have designated December 8, 2022, as Latina Equal Pay Day to represent 

the additional time that Latina women have had to work 

into this calendar year to receive the earnings of their 

White, non-Hispanic counterparts in the prior year: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

3 (1) recognizes the disparity in wages paid to 

4 Latina women and its impact on women, families, 

5 and the economy of the United States; and 


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1 (2) reaffirms its support for ensuring equal pay 

2 for equal work and closing the gender wage gap. 

Æ 


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