WHEREAS, more than 50 years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, women, especially women of color and single mothers, continue to suffer the consequences of unequal pay; and
WHEREAS, the wage gap impacts women in all aspects of life, from the ability to pay off student debt to grappling with the costs of childcare, mortgage and utilities. Regardless of education level or employment industry, the wage gap persists; and
WHEREAS, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, women in Delaware working full-time, year-round earned on average 86% of the earnings of men working full-time, year-round; and
WHEREAS, the situation is very different when wage statistics of women of color are addressed. The most recent U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey that looked at data from 2013 to 2017 shows Black women in Delaware earn 69% of the earnings of white men, and Hispanic women and Latinas in Delaware earn 58%; and
WHEREAS, in Delaware, women heading single family homes still earn less than their male counterparts.
Delaware
a female householder with a family and no spouse earns 75% of what a male householder earns with a family and no spouse; and
WHEREAS, women are the breadwinners in close to
across the United States, and about one-third of those family households have incomes that fall below the poverty line; and
WHEREAS, fair pay equity policies can be implemented without undue cost or hardship in both the public and private sectors; and
WHEREAS, March 24
th
symbolizes the point in the year when the wages paid to American women catch up to the wages paid to men from the previous year.
NOW, THEREFORE:
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the 151st General Assembly of the State of Delaware, the Senate concurring therein, that March 24, 2021, is designated as “Equal Pay Day” in the State of Delaware.
