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U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12) today marked Equal Pay Day by cosponsoring the Paycheck Fairness Act to ensure women across the country earn equal pay for equal work.

“Equal Pay Day is the day when, more than three months into the year, women’s earnings finally catch up to what men earned in 2016,” Dingell said. “Women working full-time, year-round still earn on average 80 cents for every dollar earned by men, and the pay gap is even worse for women of color. It’s not a myth, but a harsh reality that as far as we’ve come, we still have work to do to ensure women are paid equally for doing the same job.

“The Paycheck Fairness Act takes a critical step toward addressing this disparity by strengthening and closing loopholes in the Equal Pay Act of 1963. This is not just a women’s issue – it matters to our children and families and our economy as a whole. With less take-home pay, women have less for the everyday needs of their families – groceries, rent, child care and doctor’s visits – money that would go back into our local economies. Women and their families deserve equal pay for equal work, and we’re calling on our colleagues to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act to help close the wage gap once and for all.”

More than five decades after the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Michigan women still only earn 74 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts. The gap is even wider for women of color, with African-American women making 64 cents on the dollar, and Hispanic women making just 57 cents for every dollar earned by a man. At the rate of change between 1960 and 2015, women will not see pay equality with men until 2059.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would strengthen and close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act by holding employers accountable for discriminatory practices, ending the practice of pay secrecy, easing workers’ ability to individually or jointly challenge pay discrimination, and strengthening the available remedies for wronged employees.