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With Mother’s Day Approaching, Casey Releases County-by-County Data Showing Number of PA Children Dependent on Mothers’ Earnings

Casey Pushes Congress to Pass Paycheck Fairness Act to Strengthen Equal Pay Laws from 1963

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey, Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), released a JEC report finding that women in Pennsylvania make 18.6% less than men. This persistent pay gap harms families and weakens the economy, the report found.

The report entitled, “Mother’s Day Report: Paycheck Fairness Helps Families, Not Just Women,” also shows that mothers’ earnings play a key role in supporting their families.  Nationally, two-thirds of mothers work outside the home and one in three working mothers is the only income earner in her family, the report shows. 

“This new JEC report makes clear that women are still getting paid significantly less than men for the same work,” said Senator Casey.  “The stubborn pay gap harms families who depend on women’s earnings and limits our nation’s economic growth.    We need to close the pay gap and passing the Paycheck Fairness Act will help.” 

The report also finds that mothers’ earnings are especially important to lower-income families.  While mothers’ wages nationally account for 38 percent of total family income for the typical two-earner family, for families at the bottom 10 percent of the income distribution, mothers’ earnings provide nearly half (49.5 percent) of household income.

“The pay gap is both a fairness and an economic issue,” continued Casey. “It’s simply wrong that women aren’t paid the same for doing the same work, but there is a steep economic cost as well. When women have fewer dollars in their paycheck, they have less money to support their families and fewer dollars to put back into the economy."

Senator Casey today called on Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act to strengthen the original Equal Pay Act, which was signed into law by President Kennedy in 1963 and prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of gender.  In 1963, women earned 59 cents for every dollar earned by men.   Nearly 50 years later, there remains a 23 cent gap between men’s and women’s earnings.

The Paycheck Fairness Act:

  • Prohibits employers from punishing employees for sharing salary information with co-workers.
  • Makes discrimination costly to employers by making those who bring gender discrimination cases eligible for compensatory and punitive damages as is the case with race and ethnicity discrimination cases.
  • Develops new training programs for women and girls on how to negotiate compensation packages and recognizes employers who have eliminated pay disparities.

A county-by-county breakdown* showing the number of children in Pennsylvania who are wholly or partially dependent on their mothers’ earnings is below:

County

Children in Single-Parent Households Dependent on Mothers' Earnings

Total Number of Children In Households Wholly or Partially Dependent on Mothers' Earnings

Adams County

4,775

15,483

Allegheny County

50,296

159,082

Armstrong County

2,230

8,689

Beaver County

6,422

23,075

Berks County

18,693

61,842

Blair County

4,279

16,080

Bucks County

17,081

94,831

Butler County

5,415

27,885

Cambria County

5,666

18,707

Carbon County

2,569

9,344

Centre County

3,556

15,439

Chester County

15,356

76,820

Clearfield

2,265

9,988

Columbia County

2,299

7,571

Crawford County

3,038

9,799

Cumberland County

6,679

31,365

Dauphin County

16,820

40,647

Delaware County

28,299

89,350

Erie County

14,314

39,905

Fayette County

4,474

14,857

Franklin County

5,413

21,197

Indiana County

3,356

10,972

Lackawanna

8,181

27,440

Lancaster County

18,679

78,979

Lawrence County

3,919

11,246

Lebanon County

4,016

19,163

Lehigh County

21,429

56,808

Luzerne County

13,983

40,581

Lycoming County

5,682

14,325

Mercer County

6,050

14,817

Monroe County

6,497

24,581

Montgomery County

24,600

128,500

Northampton

10,053

41,946

Northumberland County

3,140

11,837

Philadelphia County

120,983

209,913

Schuylkill County

5,324

20,049

Somerset County

2,275

7,875

Washington

6,491

29,559

Westmoreland County

12,400

46,096

York County

20,435

71,925




*Data only available for counties with populations larger than 50,000

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