Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, introduced a resolution to honor the first Disabled Women’s Equal Pay Day on September 18.
“No worker—no matter their gender, their background, or whether they have a disability—should be robbed of their dignity or of a fair paycheck,” Senator Murray said. “Recognizing Equal Pay Day for women with disabilities is an important way to continue acknowledging the inequities those workers face and the work we must do to end them. Much like investments, the damage done by discrimination compounds over time, robbing women with disabilities of tens of thousands of dollars a year—sometimes over a million dollars by retirement—and excluding them from so many other opportunities throughout life. I will not stop fighting to make sure we end pay gaps, end discriminatory policies like sub-minimum wages for workers with disabilities, and continue building an economy that works for everyone.”
The full resolution can be read HERE.
The Senate resolution is cosponsored by Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Ed Markey (D-MA).
The resolution is endorsed by: National Partnership for Women & Families, #MEAction (The Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Action Network), A Better Balance, Access Living (IL), American Association of People with Disabilities, American Association of University Women (AAUW), Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Caring Across Generations, Center for American Progress, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), Coalition on Human Needs, Equal Rights Advocates/Equal Pay Today, Family Values @ Work, familyforwardoregon, Healthy and Free Tennessee, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Justice for Migrant Women, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), Legal Momentum, MomsRising, National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities, National Council of Jewish Women, National Disability Rights Network (NDRN), National Disabled Legal Professionals Association, National Organization for Women, National Women’s Law Center, Nebraska Appleseed, New Disabled South, Pennsylvania Women’s Law Project, Students with Disabilities Advocacy Group, The Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United), The Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest PA, U.S. Gender and Disability Justice Alliance, and the Washington Sexual Violence Law Center.
The identical House companion resolution was led by Representatives Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-07).
Disabled women are paid just 50 cents for every dollar paid to nondisabled men. Disabled workers are especially likely to work part time, making it critical to include these workers in a wage gap figure. The wage gap is often widest for disabled women of color, who face the compounding effects of racism, ableism, classism and sexism.
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