Today is Equal Pay Day, a day where we once again note that Pennsylvania has not updated our inadequate, ineffective, and outdated state equal pay law since 1967—when it was weakened to apply to even fewer people.
Where are the state lawmakers who talk about the dignity of work? Dignity for who?
This year’s wage gap data incorporates both full-time, year-round workers and part-time workers. In the past, wage gap data solely relied on full-time workers, leaving millions of workers, disproportionately Black women, out of the equation and failing to provide a comprehensive view of the economic realities of workers and structural biases in the U.S. economy.
Nationally, for all earners, the gender wage gap is 77 cents on the dollar for all women; 64 cents for Black women; 54 cents for Latina women; 51 cents for Native American; 52 cents for Asian American/Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women.
Pennsylvania’s Wage Gap: Worse than Our Neighbors
Comparing all workers, the annual gender wage gap in Pennsylvania is $14,037, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families. As always, the gender-racial wage gap is larger than the gender gap alone: Black women in Pennsylvania earn $20,937 less than white, non-Hispanic men. Latinas in Pennsylvania face an even bigger wage gap of $25,810.
Our wage gap is wider than every surrounding state except New Jersey ($16,019).
One reason for this shameful ranking is Pennsylvania’s artificially low minimum wage, aka poverty wage, of $7.25 per hour. How can anyone, never mind a single parent of two children, possibly support themselves while working full-time, year-round for approximately $15,000?
Philadelphia, meanwhile, is one of the hardest cities to make ends meet on a minimum wage. Philadelphia does, however, enforce an equal wage ordinance that bans employers from seeking or relying on prior pay.
Another major driver of the wage gap is occupational segregation, with women making up nearly two-thirds of workers in the 20 lowest-paying jobs.
Governor Shapiro has called on the General Assembly to raise the state minimum wage to $15 per hour, but it will take cooperative legislative support to enact this proposal.
Support Equal Pay in Pennsylvania
Three legislative proposals are currently under consideration in Pennsylvania:
- House Bill 98 – Rep. Donna Bullock (D-Philadelphia) HB 98 would improve the state equal pay law, impose more penalties on employers engaging in discriminatory practices, and would establish an Equal Pay Commission to research pay disparities.
- House Bill 356 – Rep. Mary Isaacson (D-Philadelphia) HB 356 would require employers to post pay ranges for applicants and candidates for internal positions, upon hire, and thereafter.
- Senate Bill 36 – Sen. Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia) HB 36 would clarify and strengthen the state equal pay law, including capturing discriminatory disparities beyond wages, such as benefits and supplementary pay.
- Senate Bill 386 – Sen. Judy Schwank (D-Reading) SB 386 would restrict the right of prospective employers to ask applicants and employees about prior wage history, essentially expanding the protections found in Philadelphia’s ordinance to workers throughout the state.
- Senate Bill 421 – Sen. Steven J. Santarsiero (D-Bucks) and Sen. Maria Collett (D-Montgomery) SB 421 would broaden the scope of current law to include more employees and fringe benefits; Protect employees from retaliation when inquiring about wage information, ensuring wages are based on bona fide factors; and provide workers the ability to collect unpaid wages when an employer is found to violate the law.
If you support equal pay, please contact your state Representative and Senator and urge them to support these proposals.
Know Your Rights!
WLP provides extensive support for workers including a Legal Navigator program to assist workers and students navigating pregnancy and/or lactation needs in the workplace or school. Go here for more information on your rights in the workplace.
Women’s Law Project is a non-profit public interest law center in Pennsylvania devoted to advancing and defending the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people in Pennsylvania and beyond.
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