Statement of Jocelyn Frye, President of the National Partnership for Women & Families

WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 12, 2024 – Today, as we mark Equal Pay Day, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a new tool to allow the public to access pay data, an effort that expands on the Biden administration’s goals of increasing pay transparency in order to close the wage gap. Access to pay data can deliver deeper insights across employers and industries, job type and region, which allows policymakers and advocates to better advocate for closing the wage gap. In response, National Partnership for Women & Families President Jocelyn C. Frye, released the following statement:

“Studies have concluded that pay data collection is an important tool to help enforce equal pay laws and close our country’s gender wage gap, and the National Partnership strongly supports the work of the EEOC and the Biden administration to strengthen these efforts. Actions such as reinstating EEO-1 pay data collection (which concerns reporting requirements for US employers) that would require employers to report information on compensation by gender and race will shed greater light onto pay disparities and practices.

“While our country has made progress to address the pay gap – and women’s pay has climbed from the 59 cents on the dollar paid back in 1963 when the Equal Pay Act became law – we still have a long way to go to ensure all workers are paid fairly and are protected from pay discrimination. In addition to pay discrimination, long-established systemic barriers to the job market and employment opportunities, along with extreme attacks on reproductive care access, all contribute to the economic inequities that women continue to face. We should view Equal Pay Day as an important moment to challenge the misperception that women’s choices are to blame for pay inequities – and to rededicate ourselves to the mission of eradicating America’s gender wage gaps once and for all.”

Analysis from the National Partnership for Women & Families shows that overall, women make just 78 cents for every dollar white, non-hispanic men make. This wage gap adds up to more than $11,000 for a woman in the course of a year, costing all women $1.6 trillion in pay each year, and even more for women of color. The National Partnership has led a coalition of advocates and worked closely with the administration to strengthen pay data collection efforts.

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