Last week Oregon took an important step towards closing the wage gap for the women in its state. With the strong advocacy of Family Forward Oregon, the legislature passed HB 2007, a bill that prohibits employers from retaliating or discriminating against employees who inquire about, discuss, or disclose their pay. Once the Governor signs the bill into law, Oregon will become the 11th state to explicitly provide these protections to workers.
What does this anti-retaliation law have to do with the wage gap? The story of Lilly Ledbetter illustrates the problem of pay secrecy. She worked for Goodyear Tire plant for nearly 20 years and only discovered that she was being paid significantly less than lower-ranked male colleagues thanks to an anonymous note from someone in HR. She could not have discovered the discrepancy on her own if she had thought to check—her employer banned employees for discussing pay. Read more »
You know what polls really well with just about everyone? Equal Pay. So it’s not a surprise that the Pope is the latest public figure to weigh in.
On Wednesday, Pope Francis voiced his support for equal pay in his weekly remarks at the Vatican. Pope Francis asked Catholics to consider “the Christian seed of radical equality between men and women.” He said Christians should “become more demanding” for that “radical equality” by “supporting the right of equal pay for equal work.” Read more »
It’s Equal Pay Day, April 14th. Equal Pay Day is the symbolic date that marks the time in the year when the wages of women who work full time, year round finally catch up to the wages of men. The date is pegged to the overall wage gap for women—when the wages for all men and women are compared, women make just 78 cents on the dollar.
That overall statistic masks even larger disparities for women of color. African American women are paid a whopping 64 percent of the salaries paid to their white, male counterparts. This pay gap, which amounts to a loss of $18,650 a year, means that African American women have to work nearly 19 more months—almost until the end of July—just to make as much as white, non-Hispanic men did in the previous year alone.
Here are five more facts about the wage gap that are equally stunning: Read more »
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but how much is that in dollars? Today is Equal Pay Day, which marks the fact that it takes women more than 15 months to earn what men make in just one year. To “celebrate” we thought we’d share with you 5 pictures that highlight the importance of achieving equal pay for women. Read more »
This week we mark Asian American women’s equal pay day, the day that represents how many extra days an Asian American woman typically has to work to earn what a white, non-Hispanic man typically earns in one year. American women who work full time, year round are typically paid only 78 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts. The wage gap is a penny better for Asian American women--among full-time, year-round workers, Asian American women typically make 79 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. However, focusing on the aggregate obscures the full story. The wage gap varies among subgroups of Asian American women with some groups of Asian American women making substantially less. Read more »
The recent hacking of thousands of Sony emails revealed that Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence, two stars of last year’s blockbuster hit American Hustle, were paid millions of dollars less than co-stars Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, and Christian Bale. The latter actors are perfectly fine (I mean, two are superheroes!), but why did those first two stars of Hustle make so much less than the other three? Here’s my educated guess: Adams and Lawrence are women, and Cooper, Renner, and Bale…aren’t.
This story isn’t getting press because the wage gap is surprising. The Equal Pay Act was passed over 50 years ago, but we still don’t actually have equal pay yet. Women working full-time, year-round typically make 78 cents to every dollar made by men — it’s worse for most women of color, and complicated for transgender women as well. This story may have had bigger disparities to report if Hustle had starred Michelle Rodriguez and Laverne Cox instead. Read more »
We spent this morning crunching some newly released Census data on the gender wage gap in earnings for African American women and Latinas working full time, year round as compared to white, non-Hispanic men in all 50 states and D.C. What we found is deeply troubling and makes clear that looking at the gender wage gap for women overall often hides striking inequalities.
New NWLC analysis shows that in 2013, Latinas typically made only 56 percent of what white, non-Hispanic men earned. That’s 56 cents for every dollar, amounting to an annual difference of $23,279. So, on December 31, 2013, while white, non-Hispanic men who worked full time, year round were typically paid $53,488 for the year, Latinas were typically paid just $30,209. Today, more than 10 months into 2014, we’re marking the day when Latinas have finally been paid the same amount that white, non-Hispanic men were typically paid in 2013 alone. That’s right; it takes over 21 months for Latinas to earn what white, non-Hispanic men earn in 12. 21 months versus 12 – that’s not a very pretty reflection. Read more »
The wage gap barely budged in over a decade and the latest data show that women working full time, year round only make 78 cents for every dollar a man makes.To give you an idea of how long ago that is, here are some things that were popular back in the early 2000’s.