Black Women’s Equal Pay Day Resolution Introduced by Adams, Frankel, Leger Fernández, Watson Coleman, Blunt Rochester

WASHINGTON, DC- Today, Representatives Alma Adams (NC-12), Teresa Leger Fernández (FL-22), Lois Frankel (FL-22), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), along with Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE),introduced the Black Women's Equal Pay Day Resolution, marking July 10, 2025 as Black Women's Equal Pay Day and recognizing the ongoing, severe racial and gender wage gap Black women face in the United States.

Black Women's Equal Pay Day represents how long a Black woman must work in 2024 and 2025 to make as much as white men did in 2024. Black women working full-time, year-round make just 64 cents for every dollar a non-Hispanic white man makes, and the wage gap has only narrowed by 5 cents in the last two decades. If this trend continues, Black women won't reach pay equality until 2227-over 200 years from now.

Text of the resolution can be found here.

"Today, we recognize the staggering wage inequity Black women face and recommit ourselves to addressing this injustice," said Congresswoman Adams. "For too long, Black women have been forced to work twice as hard to get half as far, facing steep barriers, discrimination, and lack of opportunity to succeed. We cannot afford to wait 200 years to be paid what we're owed. I'm proud to introduce this resolution and continue our fight for wage equity in America."

"Equal pay is a matter of fairness and justice and is essential for creating a more equitable and prosperous world," said Democratic Women's Caucus Chair Emerita Lois Frankel (FL-22). "For generations, women have received unequal pay for equal work, and for Black women the disparity is even worse. It's long past time Congress took the necessary steps to close the wage gap."

"Black women deserve equal pay for equal work-anything less is unacceptable!" said Congresswoman Leger Fernández. "It's been 61 years since we passed the Equal Pay Act, and black women are still undervalued and underpaid for their essential work-earning only 66 cents on the dollar compared to white men. Those who believe that the fight for equality is over are wrong. Discrimination still exists, but equality and fairness are righteous goals. We will fight for these every day until this commemoration is no longer needed."

"Today, Black women finally catch up to what white men were paid last year," said Congresswoman Watson Coleman. "That's more than six months of extra work. Black women earn just 66 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men, and that gap only widens for mothers and older workers. We cannot let this injustice continue. Pay transparency, childcare access, and real enforcement of anti-discrimination laws aren't optional, they're necessary."

"Black Women's Equal Pay Day comes at a time when unemployment for Black women has reached record highs and uncertainty about our economy is growing," said Senator Blunt Rochester. "America is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, yet Black women still have to work seven months longer to earn what White men do. The legislation we are introducing today acknowledges the ways Black women are being left behind in our economy and affirms our commitment to finally closing this persistent gap."

"The wage gap is a persistent issue that cuts across regions, degrees, and job titles. For Black women, no level of achievement, academic, professional, or otherwise, can help us achieve pay equity," said Dr. Jamila K. Taylor, President and CEO of Institute for Women's Policy Research. "The wage gap impacting Black women stems from deeply rooted structural racism and gender bias in our labor systems not from individual shortcomings. We must continue to shed light on these systemic issues so policymakers can act with greater clarity and purpose."

"We thank Rep. Adams, Senator Blunt Rochester, and all the cosponsors of the Black Women's Equal Pay Day Resolution," said Noreen Farrell, Executive Director, Equal Rights Advocates & Chair, Equal Pay Today Campaign. "This resolution acknowledges that Black women continue to be underpaid, undervalued, and overrepresented in low paid jobs. Millions of working women nationwide join the call for long overdue and commonsense policy reforms that let Black women care for their families, build economic security and wealth, and advance at work. These include pay transparency, paid family leave, and raising wages. It is about fairness, and it is about time."

"Recently, economic disparities for Black women have been compounded by the Trump Administration firing federal workers, ending government contract employment opportunities, and attacking the very diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that make our workforce so strong," said Deborah J. Vagins, National Campaign Director, Equal Rights Advocates & Director, Equal Pay Today Campaign. "For this Black Women's Equal Pay Day, we are calling attention to the egregious wage gaps Black women already face, and are demanding an end to the attack on Black women's economic security by urging Congress to protect inclusive programs, preserve federal jobs, and strengthen the workplace rights that benefit all workers."

"Black women, who live at the intersections of race, gender and other identities, have been failed by our country's lack of institutional, structural and policy supports that are essential to achieving meaningful economic stability," said Jocelyn C. Frye, President of the National Partnership for Women & Families. "While Black women often have had among the highest labor force participation for women, their work has been systematically devalued, and they must navigate hurtful stereotypes that diminish their skills and work ethic. Black women are important engines driving our economy, strengthening our workplaces, and sustaining our families. Instead of working to pass policies that would help Black women workers - like the Paycheck Fairness Act and investments in the care economy - this Administration is pushing harmful actions that will make matters worse, eliminating civil rights protections, attacking efforts to expand opportunities and combat longstanding disparities, and discouraging positive efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that make our workforce so strong. On this Black Women's Equal Pay Day, we thank Congresswoman Alma Adams, Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester and all of our champions in Congress who are fighting for pay equity for Black women."

"Black women should not have to work more than half the year just to catch up to what white men earned in the previous year," said Melanie Campbell, President and CEO of National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and National Convenor of the Black Women's Roundtable. "Yet here we are, marking Black Women's Equal Pay Day at a time when the stakes could not be higher. This month alone has shown us the real consequences of reckless cuts to the federal workforce - from failures in weather preparedness to persistently high unemployment rates among Black women. Just this week, the Supreme Court opened the door for even deeper cuts to the federal workforce, which will hurt all Americans, but disproportionately harm women and communities of color. Black women are also bearing the brunt of ongoing attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Congress can and must act - by investing in quality job creation, ensuring livable wages, enacting equitable workplace policies, expanding access to affordable childcare, and guaranteeing universal paid leave. That's how we close the wage gap - not just for Black women, but for all women."

The resolution is co-sponsored by 70 representatives: Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman, Lois Frankel, Teresa Leger Fernández, Joyce Beatty, Andrea Salinas, Stephen Lynch, Valerie Foushee, Nanette Barragán, Danny Davis, Seth Moulton, Jonathan Jackson, Ilhan Omar, Nikema Williams, Sanford Bishop, Suzan DelBene, Jennifer McClellan, Frederica Wilson, Bennie Thompson, Eric Swalwell, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Suzanne Bonamici, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Cleo Fields, Nydia Velázquez, Kathy Castor, Steve Cohen, Gwen Moore, Maxwell Frost, Yvette Clarke, Rashida Tlaib, Shri Thanedar, Delia Ramirez, Pramila Jayapal, Lucy McBath, Kweisi Mfume, Adam Smith, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Tim Kennedy, André Carson, Jerry Nadler, Gregory Meeks, Gabe Amo, Rosa DeLauro, Mike Quigley, Robin Kelly, Emanuel Cleaver, Marilyn Strickland, Mike Thompson, Shontel Brown, John Garamendi, Hank Johnson, Hillary Scholten, Judy Chu, Wesley Bell, Julia Brownley, Greg Landsman, Steny Hoyer, Shomari Figures, Jasmine Crockett, Glen Ivey, Adriano Espaillat, Betty McCollum, Dina Titus, Maxine Dexter, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, LaMonica McIver, Summer Lee, Nikki Budzinski, Deborah Ross, and Mark DeSaulnier.