The Paycheck Fairness Act would strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and guarantee that women can challenge pay discrimination and hold their employers accountable for discriminatory practices as part of an effort to address the gender pay gap in the United States.

The bill aims to end the practice of pay secrecy, easing workers’ ability to individually or jointly challenge pay discrimination, and strengthening the available remedies for wronged employees.

What exactly is the gender pay gap?

It tends to be recognized as the ratio of female-to-male average yearly earnings among full-time and year-round workers, suggesting that these pay disparities are discriminatory towards women. There are some discrepancies as to where that ratio actually sits.

A 2008 U.S. Census Bureau study reports that women's median annual earnings were 77.5% of men's earnings, the U.S. Department of Labor in 2015 cited the gap at 82%, while a newer 2014 Claudia Goldin study published by the American Economic Review suggests that when the data is controlled for certain variables, the residual gap is actually at around 5-7%, or a ratio of 95-97% of earnings compared to that of their males counterpart.

A 2010 study by Catalyst of male and female MBA graduates found that after controlling for career aspirations, parental status, years of experience, industry, and other variables, male graduates are more likely to be assigned jobs of higher rank and responsibility and earn, on average, $4,600 more than women in their first post-MBA jobs.

The real answer tends to be blurry, although almost every study suggests that the gap does exist and women overall tend to earn less than their male counterparts.

The bill argues that the existence of such pay disparities depresses families' wages, prevents optimum utilization of available labor resources, burdens commerce and the free flow of goods in industries, and deprives workers of equal protection on the basis of sex, which directly violates the 5th and 14th Amendments of the constitution.

Republicans argue the bill is unfair for employers, since it would open up employers to more lawsuits and empower trial lawyers. Rep. Elise Stefanik(R-NY) has introduced similar legislation that is more "pro-business" and would be less steep about the compliance costs of the Democratic version while still addressing the gender pay gap.

The legislation passed the House on 03/27/19 with a 242/187 vote. It currently sits on committee on the Senate.