(NEW YORK CITY COMPTROLLER) Scott M. Stringer, APRIL 17, 2017 — On April 4th we recognized Equal Pay Day. It’s 2017, yet women still aren’t paid the same as men, for the same work. Women in America make just 78 cents for every dollar men make. It’s wrong.

Across all Fortune 500 companies, women fill just two in ten seats on corporate boards. Worse, in the healthcare industry, women represent only 20% of the executive leadership at top companies. And in the insurance industry women make up more than 60% of employees, but hold just 10% of executive positions.

That’s why we announced we are pressing companies to disclose whether they have pay gaps and what they’re doing to close them. We’ve worked with six major American companies that the New York City Pension Funds invest in to move forward on pay equity, including AIG, Prudential, Aflac, Allstate, Anthem, and UnitedHealth. We’re starting with the healthcare and insurance industries because research indicates they have some of the largest gaps.

And we’re not going to stop, even if we have to go one company at a time.

Because closing the gender pay gap isn’t just a moral imperative – it’s an economic necessity.

When we have equality in the workplace, our pension investments do better. When we shatter the glass ceiling, we’re more likely to attract the best and brightest. And when women succeed, New York City succeeds.

We’re calling on every company to take steps towards closing gender pay gaps. If we want to be competitive in the 21st century, we need to be a fairer place for all.