WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-01) – a member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee – hosted a summit on Women in the Workforce in Haddonfield, NJ. The summit preceded an anti-choice debate that is forthcoming next week in the House of Representatives to deny medical care to women in desperate circumstances (H.R. 36).

The summit focused on policies that support and empower women in the workforce.

“As a son, husband, father and grandfather, I have seen how the women in my life have been impacted by workplace discrimination in some way. We need to raise wages for working Americans and we need to end pay inequality and discrimination against women in the workforce,” said Congressman Norcross. “From raising wages to making child care more affordable and earned leave more accessible, women and families are facing challenges that we can address with good policy.”

In New Jersey, women are paid 82 cents for every dollar paid to men, which equates to an annual wage gap of $11,089. Additionally, 40% of all households in the U.S. include mothers who provide either the sole or the primary source of income for their family and over 417,000 of New Jersey households have a woman as their chief breadwinner.

The first panel discussion of the evening looked at how to improve economic security by raising the wage and equal pay. The second panel discussion focused on paid leave and affordable child care.

“I was a single dad raising my oldest son and know firsthand how hard it is to find quality, affordable child care and to balance parenting around a work schedule,” Norcross added. “The women here told stories about discrimination and they also shared ideas to empower workers – like New Jersey’s family leave program – that can be replicated on the federal level. I vowed that I’ll continue fighting for them in Congress and taking action to raise up wages and raise up families.”

Held at The Haddon Fortnightly, the panels included participation from Assemblywoman Pam Lampitt, New Jersey Working Families’ Analilia Mejia, Gloucester County NAACP’s Loretta Winters, the American Association of University Women’s Sally Goodson, Rutgers’ Karen White, Moms Rising’s Nadia Hussain, AARP’s Evelyn Liebman, NJPP’s Holly Low, and CWA’s Fareeda Mabry and Amber Pallante.

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Contact: Ally Kehoe, Communications Director
ally.kehoe@mail.house.gov