Economic equity news is a weekly round-up of articles by Donna Seymour of AAUW-NYS that features our core values of poverty solutions, opportunity and access, workplace fairness, healthy lives, equal pay and representation at all tables. Sign up for our mailing list to receive this directly to your inbox.

• Unionized women in NYS have 25 percent wage advantage via the Times Union

The Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Women’s Policy Research is out with a study, funded by the American Federation of Teachers, showing that New York women who belong to a union have a 25 percent wage advantage — an average of $191 more a week — over women who aren’t union members.

•  Big Leaps for Parental Leave, if Workers Actually Take It via The New York Times

Some corners of corporate America have a new message for new parents: Put down that laptop and pick up your baby instead. Even as employees are increasingly tethered to the office, a workplace culture that urges new mothers and fathers to hurry back to their cubicles is beginning to shift.

• Target Just Made Life Much Easier For Breastfeeding Moms via Distractify

While some companies have been criticized for asking breastfeeding moms to ‘take it elsewhere,’ Target just took a big step in the opposite direction.

• Getting More Women Into STEM Jobs via WXXI (Audio)

In this hour of Innovation Friday, how successful has been the White House’s push to get more women and girls into STEM jobs? Less than two percent of women make it into the IT workforce, how can schools and companies change this? Rochester’s Alexandria Kelley, a graduate of the StepITUpAmerica initiative, talks about how she wants to change this statistic.

• Most Nations Miss a Goal for Women in Leadership via The New York Times

Despite a promise made by world leaders two decades ago to have women make up at least 30 percent of their national legislatures, most of the world’s parliaments remain largely the province of men. Among 190 countries, only 44 legislatures have met the 30 percent goal, according to an analysis by the Inter-Parliamentary Union. They include Rwanda (nearly 64 percent of members of its lower house of Parliament are women) and Bolivia (53 percent).