“It’s 2018, yet women still earn less than men for the same work. We tell young women that they can accomplish anything they set out to do, but the reality is that we have a lot more work to do to level the playing field. Today is Equal Pay Day, which marks how far into a new year women must work to catch up to what their male counterparts earned the previous year – a stark reminder of how far we still have go.

“Women in New York fare better than women nationally, earning 89 cents for every dollar men earn, as compared to the national average of 80 cents.1 However, 1 cent less is too much; fair is fair and gender should never determine a person’s salary. For women of color like myself, the pay gap is even wider. The Assembly has passed legislation year after year to close the gap, including measures like the Fair Pay Act, and I will keep fighting until all women are paid wages they rightfully earned. I want it to be true when I tell my daughter she can reach the goals she sets for herself and the only thing that matters is how hard she works.”

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1. aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap