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.
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Shocking State Wage Gaps for Women of Color via National Women’s Law Center
NWLC released a new analysis based on data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey of the gender wage gap for African American women, Latinas, Asian American and Native American women working full time, year round as compared their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts in all 50 states and D.C.
After California made paid-family leave a law in 2004, the rate of new mothers taking time off doubled. New research shows the policy strongly affected fathers too: They are 46% more likely to take paternity leave in the first year of their kid’s life than they were before the law took effect.
- First Woman To Serve As State Police Second-In-Command via NYStateOfPolitics
Patricia Groeber has been appointed the second-in-command at the State Police, making her the highest-ranked woman in the history of the 98-year-old law enforcement agency. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Monday Groeber had been named the first deputy superintendent of the State Police, serving under Superintendent Joe D’Amico.
- Gillibrand Fetes Opening Combat Roles For Women via NYStateOfPolitics
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in a statement praised the decision announced on Thursday by Defense Secretary Ash Carter that all positions in the U.S. military will be open to women, including combat roles. “This will strengthen our armed forces, and it builds on a history of honorable and courageous service by women throughout the military, as well as thoughtful research and analysis by the services and the Defense Department,” Gillibrand said in a statement. “Today we are telling every girl in America that she can serve her country just like the boys she is growing up with.”
- New Approaches to Equal Pay with Martha Burk via PowHerNY
In a whirlwind of events including a interview at The New York Women’s Foundation and a conference call with advocates around the state, we learned a lot from our special guest from New Mexico, Martha Burk. Click here to view the social media round-up as well as our fact sheets on her equal pay initiative in New Mexico as well as others in New York and around the country.
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.