Equal pay would significantly reduce poverty for working women and their families across the United States.  If working women received equal pay with comparable men—men who are of the same age, have the same level of education, work the same number of hours, and have the same urban/rural status—poverty for working women would be reduced by more than 40 percent.

Closing the gender wage gap would lower working women’s poverty rates, especially for single mothers, in every state and help women and families achieve greater economic security.

Equal pay for working women would increase their annual average earnings from $41,402 to $48,326, adding $541 billion in wage and salary income to the U.S. economy.