Women in Pennsylvania earn less than men by a wider margin than the nation as a whole. Legislation reintroduced in the state House aims to close the gender pay gap.
When the commonwealth first passed a law to address gender discrimination in the workplace in 1959, women earned 59 cents for each dollar earned by men. Since then the gap has narrowed, said Rep. Jennifer O’Mara, D-Delaware, but women are still at a disadvantage in the workplace.
“Closing the gender wage gap isn’t just about fairness, it’s about acknowledging and repairing systemic biases that perpetuate inequality in the workplace,” O’Mara said at a rally Monday at the state Capitol. “It’s time to accelerate progress towards true equality by demanding equal pay and equal opportunities for all individuals.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women in Pennsylvania earned 82.4% of men’s wages in 2023. That’s below the national average of 83.6% and four of the commonwealth’s six neighboring states.
O’Mara and Rep. Melissa Schusterman, D-Chester, are co-sponsors of House Bill 630, which would explicitly prohibit employers from paying workers less because of their gender, race or ethnicity and protect workers from retaliation in wage discrimination matters. It would also bar prospective employers from using an applicant’s pay history to set their wages.
House Speaker Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia, recalled as a young lawyer applying for a job, she was asked how much she wanted to be paid. After seven years in university and law school, she had no idea how to negotiate for a salary.
“No one explained … to make sure you’re getting paid what they would pay a man,” McClinton said “It’s unacceptable that in Women’s History Month in this commonwealth of Pennsylvania, we are stuck with these inequities.”
Legislation similar to H.B. 630 passed in the House last May but was not considered in the GOP-controlled Senate. Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, and President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland, did not respond to emails to their offices.
The gender pay gap is wider for women of color, Annmarie Pinarski, staff attorney with the Women’s Law Project, said.
“Black women in Pennsylvania typically earn only 65 cents for every dollar, a figure that drops to 57 cents for Latinas, who represent the fastest growing population in the commonwealth,” Pinarski said.
Using a job applicant’s salary history perpetuates inequality, Pinarski said, noting that lawmakers haven’t updated the state equal pay law since 1967. Meanwhile, 21 other states and numerous cities, including Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, have enacted bans on the practice.
“Does the Pennsylvania Legislature believe that rural women don’t deserve the same protection? Meanwhile, poverty rates in rural Pennsylvania are already higher than in urban areas,” Pinarski said.
Schusterman used a Wawa soft pretzel as a visual aid representing one dollar earned by men. She broke off pieces to demonstrate the significance of the gap until only about half the pretzel remained, representing what Latina women earn compared to men.
That affects households as a whole, Schusterman noted, meaning families have less money for clothing, car payments, retirement or vacations.
“The women in your households are earning less money, and it’s about time your wife or partner made the same amount of money as her male coworker for this same work,” Schusterman said.
O’Mara said the difference in earnings translates to an average of $10,000 less per year.
“As someone raised by a single mom, I can’t imagine what that additional $10,000 would have done and meant for our family,” O’Mara said.
With the cost of child care and no requirement for employers to offer paid family leave, O’Mara said the burden falls disproportionately to women.
“The harsh economic reality that we live in means that women are choosing to stay home rather than work because it’s cheaper to do so,” she said. “That is not a reality that we should be living in in the year 2025. Women should never have to choose between contributing to the workforce or their families.”
This story was first published by Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Read more of their coverage here.
