IV 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 42 
Recognizing the significance of equal pay and the disparity in wages paid 
to men and to Black women. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 10, 2025 
Ms. ADAMS (for herself, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Flor-
ida, Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. SALINAS, Mr. LYNCH, 
Mrs. FOUSHEE, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. MOULTON, 
Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. OMAR, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. 
BISHOP, Ms. DELBENE, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. 
THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. SWALWELL, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. 
BONAMICI, Ms. NORTON, Mr. FIELDS, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. CASTOR of 
Florida, Mr. COHEN, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. FROST, Ms. CLARKE 
of New York, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. THANEDAR, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. JAYAPAL, 
Mrs. MCBATH, Mr. MFUME, Mr. SMITH
of Washington, Mrs. 
CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mr. KENNEDY of New York, Mr. CARSON, Mr. 
NADLER, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. AMO, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. 
KELLY of Illinois, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. THOMPSON of 
California, Ms. BROWN, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. 
SCHOLTEN, Ms. CHU, Mr. BELL, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. LANDSMAN, Mr. 
HOYER, Mr. FIGURES, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. IVEY, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. 
MCCOLLUM, Ms. TITUS, Ms. DEXTER, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mrs. 
MCIVER, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Ms. BUDZINSKI, Ms. ROSS, and Mr. 
DESAULNIER) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the significance of equal pay and the disparity 
in wages paid to men and to Black women. 
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Whereas July 10, 2025, is Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, 
a day of observance of the wage gap between working 
Black women and working White, non-Hispanic men; 
Whereas section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(d)) (commonly known as the 
‘‘Equal Pay Act of 1963’’) 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 the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 
6 decades ago, which requires that men and women in 
the same workplace be given equal pay for equal work, 
data from the Bureau of the Census show that Black 
women working full-time and year-round are paid 66 
cents for every dollar paid to White, non-Hispanic men; 
Whereas, when part-time and part-year workers are included 
in the comparison, Black women are paid 64 cents for 
every dollar paid to White, non-Hispanic men; 
Whereas, if the current trends continue, on average, Black 
women will have to wait over 200 years to achieve equal 
pay; 
Whereas the median annual pay for a Black woman in the 
United States working full-time, year-round, is $50,390, 
which means that, if the current wage gap were to con-
tinue, the average Black woman would lose nearly 
$1,019,200 in potential earnings because of 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, to save and invest 
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for the future, and to spend on goods and services, caus-
ing businesses and the economy to suffer as a result; 
Whereas the median earnings of Black women are less than 
the median earnings of men at every level of academic 
achievement, and in leadership and professional positions; 
Whereas Black women with bachelor’s and master’s degrees 
experience a larger wage gap in comparison to White, 
non-Hispanic men than Black women with a high school 
diploma; 
Whereas, in the United States, more than 69 percent of 
Black mothers are the sole or primary breadwinners for 
their families, compared to slightly more than one-third 
of one percent of non-Hispanic White mothers; 
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 over 2 additional years of tuition and fees for 
a 4-year public university, the full cost of tuition and fees 
for a public 2-year community college, more than 49 ad-
ditional months of premiums for employer-based family 
health insurance coverage with employer contributions, 
over 58 weeks of food for a family of 4, more than 13 
additional months of home ownership costs, including 
mortgage payments, real estate taxes, insurance, utilities, 
and fuel costs, 17 more months of rental costs, including 
rent payments, utilities, and fuel, almost a full year of 
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child care for 2 children, or enough money to pay off an 
average borrower’s Federal student loan debt in under 2 
years; 
Whereas Black women face dual and compounding discrimi-
nation based upon both their race and gender; 
Whereas at least 38 percent of women have been sexually 
harassed at the workplace and over 78 percent of sexual 
harassment charges filed with the Equal Employment 
Opportunity Commission are filed by women, yet the 
prevalence of sexual harassment is likely much higher, as 
research has found that only a small number of women 
who experience harassment formally report incidents for 
reasons including fear of retaliation; 
Whereas workplace harassment forces many women to leave 
their occupation or industry; 
Whereas individuals who are targets of harassment are 6.5 
times as likely as individuals who are not targets of har-
assment to change jobs or pass up opportunities for ad-
vancement, contributing to the gender wage gap; 
Whereas Black women are 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 over-representa-
tion of women of color in low-wage and tipped occupa-
tions; 
Whereas 60 percent of private sector workers reported that 
they were either discouraged or prohibited by their em-
ployers from discussing wage and salary information, 
which can hide pay discrimination and prevent remedies; 
Whereas the pay disparity faced by Black women is part of 
a wider set of disparities faced by Black women in home 
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ownership, unemployment, poverty, access to childcare, 
and the ability to accumulate wealth; 
Whereas the gender wage gap for Black women has narrowed 
by only 5 cents in the last 2 decades; 
Whereas true pay equity requires a multifaceted strategy that 
addresses the gendered and racial injustices that Black 
women face daily; and 
Whereas many national organizations have designated July 
10, 2025, as Black Women’s Equal Pay Day to recognize 
the persistent and detrimental wage gap Black women 
face: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
(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 
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