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.
- Brilliant ‘wage gap’ alarm clock rings after 79% of the work day is done so women can go home via Revelist
MTV’s Look Different campaign partnered with PARTY NY for the 79% Work Clock, a project that shines a light on how gender impacts pay. Watch the video here.
AAUW’s new research report, Barriers and Bias: The Status of Women in Leadership, explores women’s exclusion from the top levels of leadership in politics, the workforce, education, and other sectors. While this exclusion has significant consequences for women’s experiences and contributions to society, the underrepresentation is also important to women and their families because it contributes to the gender wage gap. The highest levels of management and leadership are usually well-compensated, and women rarely make it into those positions.
- States Lead the Way on Paid Family Leave via The New York Times
Credit is due to both California and New York, as well as a handful of other states, for advancing the cause of paid family leave. But some approaches are better than others. A crucial measure of success is the actual use of paid leave by those at the bottom and middle of the income ladder, where the need for financial support and job security during leave is most acute.
- States Where Day Care Costs More Than College via The Wall Street Journal
In 40 U.S. states, the average cost of child care exceeded 10% of the median income for a family of four, the EPI research showed. The government defines child care costing less than 10% of a family income as “affordable.” In New York, 17.5% of a typical family of four’s income would go to child care, the highest of any state. In contrast, child care in South Dakota would account for 7.8% of a similar family’s budget, the smallest of any state. The annual cost of care for a pint-sized South Dakotan is $4,804.
- Taking on the Risk and Reward of Gender Pay Equity via the Huffington Post
Ahead of Equal Pay Day, and upon completion of its first external pay audit, U.S. leadership outlines program of audits, training and executive commitment to prevent pay gaps within the PR firm.
- Across races, women bolster family economic security via Washington Center for Equitable Growth
Using data from the Current Population Survey, this brief documents how family incomes changed between 1979 and 2013 for low-income, middle-class, and professional white, African American, and Latino families, decomposing the differences in male earnings, female earnings both from greater pay and more hours worked, and other sources of income over this time period.
Donna Seymour, who hails from the (far upstate) North Country of NYS, has spent 40 plus years advocating for children, women and family issues, equity, sustainability, and social justice issues. Currently serving as the Public Policy VP for AAUW-NYS (the American Association University Women), she is also a member the League of Women Voters, the Equal Pay Coalition, PTA, NOW, and Planned Parenthood, just to name a few.