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 Penn-
sylvania, 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 Flor-
ida, 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. NAPOLI-
TANO, 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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•HCON 24 IH 
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 Is-
lander 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 pro-
jected 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 lev-
els 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 moth-
ers working full-time typically are paid 75 percent of 
what fathers are paid; 
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•HCON 24 IH 
Whereas the gender wage gap collectively costs women em-
ployed full-time in the United States more than $956 bil-
lion 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 bil-
lion, 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 re-
tirement 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 pro-
motion has played a role in maintaining a workforce seg-
regated 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 rep-
resented by unions; 
Whereas as much as 38 percent of the wage gap is unex-
plained by observable factors such as variation in edu-
cational attainment, industry, and occupation, and may 
reflect discrimination; 
Whereas two-thirds of private sector workers report that em-
ployers either prohibit or discourage them from dis-
cussing their pay, which can keep the existence of pay 
discrimination hidden and prevent remedying that dis-
crimination; 
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 pro-
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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 esti-
mated 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 fami-
lies and enhances retirement savings; 
Whereas when women are paid fairly, families are stronger, 
businesses prosper, and American values and the econ-
omy 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 bil-
lion 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 rep-
resent the additional time that women must work to com-
pensate for the average 18 percent lower wages paid to 
women last year: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
(1) recognizes the disparity between wages paid 
to women and men and its impact on women, fami-
lies, and the Nation; and 
(2) reaffirms its commitment to supporting 
equal pay and to narrowing the gender wage gap. 
Æ 
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