Erie County Times

Key members of the Wolf Administration, including the Pennsylvania Commission for Women and the Pennsylvania Dept. of Labor & Industry, spoke on Tuesday about putting an end to the gender wage gap in honor of Equal Pay Day.

First Lady Frances Wolf's address explained that Equal Pay Day is the marker of how deep into the next year women need to work to match what men are paid in the previous year, a news release on the governor's office website said. Women working full time make only 83 cents for every dollar men are paid, on average. Also, approximately two thirds of those making minimum wage are women.

"The Pennsylvania Commission for Women is proud to host today's Equal Pay Day event," Commission Executive Director Moriah Hathaway said in the release. "Our commission has been addressing the gender wage gap and the impact it has on women in Pennsylvania for years." 

Hathaway explained that women make up 51% of Pennsylvania's population; but while this makes them vital to the economy, they are not paid a fair wage. 

"Due to the gender wage gap, each woman in Pennsylvania will lose an average of about $460,000 over the course of her lifetime," she said. "Our goal is to help hardworking women across Pennsylvania and enable them to better support their families. We can do this through passing equal pay legislation and raising the minimum wage."

First Lady Frances Wolf also spoke in favor of equal pay, saying that women are a major part of the workforce ranging all levels in business, the release said. She also noted that the Wolf Administration has taken steps to close the gender pay gap for state workers and called for the rest of the state to follow suit across the board.

"We are hurting our women and our economy by abiding by these antiquated processes, and something needs to change," the First Lady said in the release.

Gov. Wolf is calling for a minimum-wage increase to $12 per hour on July 1, with increases each year until it hits $15 per hour, the release said. This will reportedly impact 1.5 million workers—making up a quarter of Pennsylvania's work force— whether directly or indirectly. One million workers will directly benefit, with 62.2% being women. This would give 20.9% of all working women in the state a raise.

Increasing the minimum wage would help minority workers as well, amounting to 31.9% of Hispanic workers, 26.3% of Black workers and 15.7% of Asian workers. Asian American and Pacific Islander women make 75 cents for every dollar compared to white men, while Black women make 58 cents on the dollar and Latina women make 49 cents per dollar compared to white men; the release said, quoting a report by the American Association of University Women.

The Commission for Women was joined by Labor & Industry Secretary Jennifer Berrier, Rep. Patty Smith (D-PA) and Harrisburg City Council President Danielle Bowers in calling for equal pay and raising the minimum wage.

"A $12-an-hour minimum wage with a pathway to $15 is a long overdue investment in Pennsylvania's workers and its economic future," Berrier said in the release. "Pennsylvania workers, especially Pennsylvania women, have waited long enough."

The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence reported that non-equal pay costs women more than $915 billion each year, the release said. Closing the gender pay gap over a lifetime would help women with enough pay to cover more than 13 months of childcare, a year of tuition for a four-year public university, approximately a year's worth of food, seven months of mortgage and utility payments, and more than 10 months of rent.