Equal Pay

Workforce participation for women may be up, and more women have higher education degrees and are entering higher paid professions, but widespread pay inequity still exists and the gender wage gap hasn’t budged in over 10 years.

THE FACTS

The pay gap is real. Nationally, women on average are paid 77 cents to every dollar a man makes. In New York the wage gap is 84 cents, which is better but not good enough.

The pay gap means loss of much needed earnings. On average, NY women lose over $8500 per year, and between $450,000 to a $1,000,000 over the course of a career.

The pay gap is worse for women of color. Compared with non-Hispanic white men, NY African American women were paid 66 percent, and Hispanic women were paid just 55 percent.

There is a wage gap in almost all occupations and it grows with age. Younger female workers are paid about 90 percent of what men are paid, but after age 35 the gap increases and women make 75–80 percent of what men are paid.

The pay gap exists no matter what the level of education, and grows the higher the degree.

The pay gap especially hurts single mothers who make up one-third of the workforce.

THE SOLUTIONS

Equal pay for Equal work. Our equal pay laws were passed in the 1960’s and need to be upgraded with stronger laws which create transparency. See resources below.

End Wage Secrecy policies. If workers fear being fired if they talks about salaries, how do you know if you are being paid fairly? Protecting workers from retaliation is a key element to gaining equal pay. Read more.

Valuing Women’s Work. Why is a child care worker paid less than a groundskeeper? Unequal pay still exists because job titles performed predominately by women and people of color have been underpaid and undervalued due to historic discrimination. Read about Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value

Increase your Expectations and Negotiation Skills. Read more on negotiation skills and resources.

Occupational Choice. The majority of women are still employed in low paying, female dominated “pink collar” jobs. Of 534 job categories listed by the US Department of Labor, half of all working women were employed in only 28, and all but 2 are low-paying.

Work in Non-Traditional Jobs increases earning potential by an estimated 30% which over a lifetime can be as much as $1,500,000. Nontraditional jobs (occupations with less than 25% female) offer higher entry-level pay between $20 and $30 per hour and have greater career growth.

Women in the Trades: Go to Opportunity and Access

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics: Go to Opportunity and Access

Flexible Workplace Policies. Go to Workplace Fairness