Today is Equal Pay Day – April 12. This is the day in the 2016 calendar year that women would have to work until to make the same amount that men earned in 2015. Despite President Obama’s historic Lilly Ledbetter Pay Act, the gender pay gap persists – in part because vulnerable Congressman Cresent Hardy refuse to address the issue.
According to a new report from the Joint Economic Committee, the pay gap in Nevada’s 4th District is 16.4%, affecting not only Nevada’s working women, but their families, too. As much as 40 percent of a family’s total earnings are contributed by working women, highlighting that the gender pay gap is impacting the American families who depend on their paychecks. Closing the gender pay gap would cut the poverty rate among single-mother-led households by as much as half.
And simply put, when women make more, women spend more – so Hardy’s refusal to consider the Paycheck Fairness Act is hurting Nevada’s economy.
“This Equal Pay Day, Hardy owes an explanation to the women of his district who still make 83 cents on the dollar,” said Barb Solish of the DCCC. “By voting to block consideration of the Paycheck Fairness Act, Hardy is helping perpetuate the gender pay gap, which is hurting women, their families and Nevada’s economy.”