Press Releases

Joins other female Members of Congress to discuss minimum wage, paid family leave and sick leave

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree was one of a dozen female members of the House and Senate to meet with President Obama in the White House today to discuss a 2014 economic agenda for women.

"The economic success of women translates directly into the economic success of working families," Pingree said. "Women are contributing a larger and larger share of a family's income, but they are still concentrated in low-wage jobs where they are more likely than men to be making the minimum wage. That's an important reason why we need to increase the minimum wage and make things like paid family leave and paid sick days mandatory."

Pingree said in addition to paid leave and an increase in the minimum wage, the President and Members of Congress talked about the need to close the wage gap between men and women. Currently women make only 77% of what men are earning in identical jobs.

Although the wage gap between men and women is present at all income levels, it is particularly pronounced for people with advanced degrees as they advance in their careers.

"Women with an advanced degree start out making about as much as men but, by the time they are 40, men are making 50 percent more than women," Pingree said. "There is something wrong with that picture."

At the White House meeting today, President Obama told the group he will be convening a White House Summit on Working families in June, bringing together business and academic leaders, labor leaders, advocates and young people.