Washington, DC - Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) released a list of Top Ten Facts about the Gender Pay Gap to mark Equal Pay Day – a day that indicates just how far into each year a woman must work to earn as much as a man earned in the previous year.

“I would note that the gender gap is not just a women’s issue, it is a family issue. Unequal pay practices cost women and their families thousands of dollars each year,” said Rep. Dingell. “It takes women working full-time nearly 16 months to earn what men make in a year for doing the same work. Passing legislation like the Paycheck Fairness Act, introduced by my good friend and colleague Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), would help prevent discrimination by empowering women to negotiate better pay and toughening penalties for employers that break the law.”

Top Ten Facts about the Gender Pay Gap:

1. When occupation, marital status, job tenure, industry, and race are accounted for, women still earn 80 cents for every dollar men earn, according to a 2003 Government Accountability Office (GAO) study commissioned by Rep. Dingell and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY).

2. Full-time working women earn only 77 cents for every dollar men earn. The wage gap is wider for African American women, who earned only 72 percent of the earnings of white men in 2004 and Hispanic women, who earned only 59 percent.

3. The earnings ratio has remained essentially unchanged since 2001. About half of the decline in the wage gap over the past 40 years occurred during the 1980s, but slower progress was made during the 1990s.

4. Despite women’s increased productivity and educational attainment, the wage gap exists across all income levels, from low wage work to highly paid positions.

5. Women are disproportionately represented in many of the lowest wage sectors. Many of the occupations that include a higher percentage of women, including child and elder care as well as teaching, are among the lowest paid.

6. There is a “mommy penalty” and a “daddy bonus” related to pay. Mothers earn about 2.5 percent less than women without children, while fathers enjoy an earnings boost of 2.1 percent, compared to men without children.

7. Estimates of how much women stand to lose over their lifetime due to unequal pay practices range from $700,000 for high school graduates to $2 million for doctors and lawyers, according to the WAGE project.

8. Employers can make a difference: Contact the Department of Labor to make sure your pay policies conform to the law.

9. Government can make a difference: As a result of passing the State Employees Pay Equity Act in 1982, Minnesota has all but eliminated the wage gap among state employees as the average earnings for women employed by the state have reached 97 percent of average earnings for their male colleagues.

10. Be Your Own Best Advocate: Know your rights so that you can identify illegal wage discrimination and negotiate your salary; take job training classes so you can bust that Glass Ceiling or move to a higher paying industry; and support legislation to reduce the wage gap.

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