INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Six of Indiana's nine representatives in Congress voted in support of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. This vote came on the same day the Census Bureau released 2019 data showing that while median incomes rose, Indiana's gender wage gap is still among the widest in the nation at 24%. This gap is the 8th widest in the country.

Representatives Visclosky, Walorski, Brooks, Carson, Bucshon, and Hollingsworth voted yes. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.

While pregnant workers are protected against discrimination both nationally and at the state level, this does not provide a pregnant worker with an affirmative right to accommodations in the workplace. Many other states, including Kentucky and Tennessee, have fixed this problem by passing legislation that provides pregnant women a right to reasonable accommodations that do not impose an “undue hardship” on their employer – a standard already in place for workers with disabilities.

This past session, a bipartisan group of legislators supported a state law to protect pregnant workers, but the bill was gutted on the Senate floor.

Among the Institute's other policy ideas to close the gender wage gap are supporting affordable child care, raising the minimum wage and tipped minimum wage, and passing fair scheduling laws.