What’s Important About Equal Pay in Pennsylvania? (#fairpay)

By MB -


  • If you are a working woman living in Pennsylvania, chances are that you earn 75% of what men earn. (NWLC data)
  • In the United States, working women earn 22% less then men each year (National Committee on Pay Equity).
  • At one year out of college, women already earn just 80% of what their male colleagues earn (Behind the Pay Gap, AAUW)
  • About $200 billion is lost each year because of the pay disparity between men and women. (National Committee on Pay Equity)
  • The worsening Pennsylvania pay divide cannot be attributed to education, as Pennsylvania women in the workforce have now surpassed their male counterparts in educational achievements.

Pay equity is a pressing issue for women in our state. A recent report by the Keystone Research Center documented the shocking fact that the gender wage gap in Pennsylvania actually widened between 2003 and 2007. Moreover, 3 out of 10 Pennsylvania women today are low-income, compared to only 2 out of every 10 men.

Pennsylvanians need new policy initiatives like the Paycheck Fairness Act to identify and root out the institutional biases that are increasingly putting the economic security of women and their families in peril. PFA would close certain loopholes in the Equal Pay Act and would ask government agencies to spend more time and resources on ending pay inequity. Both of Pennsylvania’s senators are key contacts regarding this bill. We have linked a sample letter to send to Senator Casey and to Senator Specter. As part of your actions to recognize Equal Pay Day, please send letters to the Senators reminding them of the need for pay equity in the US.

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