•HCON 46 IH 
Whereas August 3, 2021, is Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, 
which marks the day that symbolizes how long into 2021 
Black women must work to make what White, non-His-
panic men were paid in 2020; 
Whereas section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(d)) prohibits discrimination in com-
pensation 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 the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 
(29 U.S.C. 206 note) 5 decades ago, which requires that 
men and women in the same workplace be given equal 
pay for equal work, Census Bureau data show that Black 
women working full time, year round, are paid 63 cents 
for every dollar paid to White, non-Hispanic men; 
Whereas if the current trends continue, on average, Black 
women will have to wait 100 years to achieve equal pay; 
Whereas the median annual pay for a Black woman in the 
United States working full time, year round, is $41,098, 
which means that, on average, Black women lose nearly 
$964,400 in potential earnings to the wage gap over the 
course of a 40-year career; 
Whereas lost wages mean Black women have less money to 
support themselves and their families, save and invest for 
the future, and spend on goods and services, causing 
businesses and the economy to suffer as a result; 
Whereas Black women’s median earnings are less than men’s 
at every level of academic achievement; 
Whereas, in the United States, more than 80 percent of 
Black mothers are key breadwinners or co-breadwinners 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:29 Aug 03, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC46.IH
HC46
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HCON 46 IH 
for their families, but Black mothers working full time 
are paid only 52 percent as much as fathers; 
Whereas the lack of access to affordable, quality childcare, 
paid family and medical leave, paid sick leave, and other 
family-friendly workplace policies contributes to the wage 
gap by forcing many Black women to choose between 
their paycheck or job and getting quality care for them-
selves or their family members; 
Whereas if the wage gap were eliminated, on average, a 
Black woman working full time would have enough 
money for approximately 2.5 additional years of tuition 
and fees for a 4-year public university, the full cost of 
tuition and fees for a 2-year community college, more 
than 16 additional months of premiums for employer- 
based health insurance, 153 weeks of food for her family, 
15 additional months of mortgage and utilities payments, 
22 more months of rent, nearly 20 additional years of 
birth control, or enough money to pay off student loan 
debt in just over 1 year; 
Whereas 25 to 85 percent of women have been sexually har-
assed at the workplace, and research has found that only 
a small number of women who experience harassment, 
about 1 in 10, formally report incidents for reasons in-
cluding lack of access to the complaints processes and 
fear of retaliation; 
Whereas workplace harassment forces many women to leave 
their occupation or industry; 
Whereas targets of harassment were 6.5 times as likely as 
nontargets to change jobs or pass up opportunities for 
advancement, contributing to the gender wage gap; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:29 Aug 03, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC46.IH
HC46
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HCON 46 IH 
Whereas Black women were the most likely of all racial and 
ethnic groups to have filed a sexual harassment charge; 
Whereas nearly two-thirds of workers paid the minimum 
wage or less are women, and there is an overrepresenta-
tion of women of color in low-wage and tipped occupa-
tions; 
Whereas more than 62 percent of women working in the pri-
vate sector reported that they were either discouraged or 
prohibited from discussing wage and salary information, 
which can hide pay discrimination and prevent remedies; 
Whereas the pay disparity Black women face is part of a 
wider set of disparities Black women face in home owner-
ship, unemployment, poverty, access to childcare, and the 
ability to accumulate wealth; 
Whereas the gender wage gap for Black women has only nar-
rowed by 3 cents in the last 3 decades; 
Whereas true pay equity requires a multifaceted strategy that 
addresses the gendered and racial injustices that Black 
women face daily; 
Whereas the pandemic has disproportionately economically 
impacted Black women; and 
Whereas many national organizations have designated August 
3, 2021, as Black Women’s Equal Pay Day to represent 
the additional time that women must work to compensate 
for the lower wages paid to Black women last year: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:29 Aug 03, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HC46.IH
HC46
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HCON 46 IH 
(1) recognizes the disparity in wages paid to 
Black women and its impact on women, families, 
and the United States; and 
(2) reaffirms its support for ensuring equal pay 
for equal work and narrowing the gender wage gap. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:29 Aug 03, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\HC46.IH
HC46
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS