A house RESOLUTION

RECOGNIZE THE FULL VALUE OF WOMEN'S SKILLS AND SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LABOR FORCE, ENCOURAGE BUSINESSES TO CONDUCT AN INTERNAL PAY EVALUATION TO ENSURE WOMEN ARE BEING PAID FAIRLY, AND DECLARE TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2023, AS "EQUAL PAY DAY" IN SOUTH CAROLINA.

Whereas, more than fifty years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, women and people of color continue to suffer the consequences of inequitable pay differentials; and

Whereas, according to statistics released in 2022 by the U.S. Census Bureau, year-round, full-time working women in 2021 earned only eighty-four percent of the earnings of year-round, full-time working men, indicating little change or progress in pay equity; and

Whereas,, women of color in the United States experience the nation's persistent and pervasive gender-wage gap most severely: white, non-Hispanic women are paid seventy-three cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men, while Black women are paid sixty-four cents, Latina women fifty-four cents, Native American women fifty-one cents, and Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women as little as fifty-two cents, as Burmese and Nepalese women are, and overall eighty cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men; and

Whereas, comparing all women and all men in South Carolina with jobs, the annual gender wage gap is $10,936; and

Whereas, on average, American women lose a combined total of nearly $1.6 trillion every year due to the overall wage gap; and

Whereas, over a working lifetime, this wage disparity costs the average American woman and her family $700,000 to $2 million in lost wages, impacting Social Security benefits and pensions; and

Whereas, this persistent, pervasive wage gap is driven in part by gender and racial discrimination, workplace harassment, job segregation, and a lack of workplace policies that support family caregiving, which is still most often performed by women; and

Whereas, these same factors led to women being hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic and recession - working in many of the most-affected industries and bearing the brunt of increased caregiving without schools or childcare. If nothing is done, the lifetime effects of the wage gap will only grow; and

Whereas, fair pay equity policies can be implemented simply and without undue costs or hardship in both the public and private sectors; and

Whereas, fair pay strengthens the security of families today and eases future retirement costs, while enhancing the American economy; and

Whereas, Tuesday, March 14, 2023, symbolizes the time this year in which 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:

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize the full value of women's skills and significant contributions to the labor force, encourage businesses to conduct an internal pay evaluation to ensure women are being paid fairly, and declare Tuesday, March 14, 2023, as "Equal Pay Day" in South Carolina.

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