HomeMy WebLinkAbout22-055 RESOLUTION NO. 22-055
A RESOLUTION PROCLAIMING APRIL 12, 2022 AS
"NATIONAL EQUAL PAY DAY" IN ST.LUCIE COUNTY,FLORIDA
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of St. Lucie County, Florida, has made the
following determinations:
1. 59 years after the passage of the 1963 Equal Pay Act, women are still facing pay inequities
compared to their male counterparts. As a whole, women earn 82 cents for every dollar earned
by a man. This pay gap increases for women of color where Black women earn 63 cents and
Hispanic women earn 58 cents to the dollar.
2. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, women continue to outpace their male
counterparts, possessing higher undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees. However,
these educational achievements saddle them with higher debt to income ratios as they owe
larger amounts of student loan debts with smaller incomes to repay those debts.
3. Pay inequities impact a family's ability to achieve self-sufficiency as 64% of women are either
sole or co earners for their families. Women are often subjected to marginalization for needing
accommodations related to motherhood.
4. The 2020 annual pay research from the National Association of Colleges and Educators
reported pay inequities still exist. On average, female college graduates earned $52,226
compared to the $64,022 earned by male college graduates. For many, these disparities exist
long before motherhood, dispelling the myth that women are paid less solely because they have
prioritized family above career opportunities.
S. Supporting a culture that affirms women by paying them justly is crucial to community health,
wellbeing, and development. Livable wages afford families the privilege of saving and securing
resources to generate generational wealth, positive health outcomes, significant literacy and
community engagement increases. This pathway out of poverty creates opportunities for
community resources to be utilized in innovative ways to grow a more resilient St. Lucie County.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of St. Lucie
County, Florida:
1. This Board does hereby proclaim April 12, 2022, as "NATIONAL EQUAL PAY DAY" in St. Lucie
County, Florida, and encourages the citizens of St. Lucie County to recognize the value, abilities,
and contributions of women to the labor force by ensuring pay equity is advocated for and
practiced.
2. This Board further encourages organizations to build trauma-informed and resilience-focused
cultures to demonstrate their investment in their most prized resource, their human capital. With
that pledge, families and communities reap very advantageous rewards.
PASSED AND DULY ADOPTED this Stn day of April 2022.
ATTEST: BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
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