UPDATEDx3! Equal Pay Day: A Joint Blog Carnival With National Women’s Law Center
Posted April 17th, 2012 by Ruth MartinToday is not just Tax Day. It is also Equal Pay Day – the day that symbolizes how far into 2012 women must work to earn what men already earned in 2011.
That’s right. Women have to work for 16.5 months to earn what men make in 12 months. Even though it is 2012 and even though the Equal Pay Act was passed almost 50 years ago, the sad reality is that across industries, women are still not getting equal pay for equal work.
Yes, it’s 2012, but Wisconsin State Senator Glenn Grothman offered this justification for his bill repealing the state’s fair pay law:
“You could argue that money is more important for men. I think a guy in their first job, maybe because they expect to be a breadwinner someday, may be a little more money-conscious.“
WHAT??? State Sen. Glenn Grothman seems to think that money just isn’t that important to women and mothers! And sadly he isn’t alone in this dated, inaccurate thinking since the fair pay legislation in WI was actually repealed.
Did I wake up in the 50s? No. I did not. It’s 2012 and State Sen. Grothman said this in a time when women, for the first time in history, now comprise half of the entire paid labor force, yet still make only 77 cents to every dollar earned by men. That lost money is more critical than ever since more and more women are now the primary or co-breadwinners for their families. Money, most certainly is not “more important for men” as he says.
Further, moms experience some of the most extreme wage hits. For example, a recent study found that with equal resumes and job experiences, mothers were offered $11,000 lower starting salaries than non-mothers (fathers, on the other hand, were offered $6,000 more in starting salaries than non-fathers). Another study found that women without children make 90 cents to a man’s dollar, mothers make 73 cents to a man’s dollar, and single moms make only about 60 cents to a man’s dollar.
Since over 80% of women in our nation have children by the time they’re 44 years old, this means the majority of women in our nation are touched by this type of wage discrimination at some point in their lives.
To say mothers and families are struggling right now–and need equal pay for equal work to help keep their families afloat–is an understatement. In fact, in 2010 it cost $226,920 on average for a middle-income, two-parent family to raise one child from birth to age 18. That’s not including college. Three-quarters of moms are in the labor force, and even so, a quarter of young families are living in poverty.
It’s time to make our voices heard: Women still need equal pay for equal work! So today, on Equal Pay Day, MomsRising is hosting this blog carnival with our partners at the National Women’s Law Center, sharing personal stories and policy analysis from diverse contributors about why families can’t wait any longer for fair pay. (Scroll down this blog to see a linked listing of all the terrific blogs on this topic).
National Women's Law Center advocates in action!
Working together for fair pay with ROCUnited
Notably, in the restaurant industry in particular, the wage gap and wage cuts are so big you could see it from outer space: Full time, year round, female servers are paid 68 percent of what their male counterparts are paid and black female servers are paid only 60 percent of what male servers overall are paid, costing them a deficit of more than $400,000 over a lifetime.
That’s unacceptable! With our partners at the Restaurant Opportunities Center, we’re speaking up to demand that Congress take action and pass the Working for Adequate Gains for Employment in Services (WAGES) Act and raise the
federal tipped minimum wage. We’ll be walking the halls of Congress, delivering MomsRising member stories about the need for fair pay in the restaurant industry and beyond.
Women now comprise half of the entire paid labor force, three-quarters of moms are in the labor force, and are essential contributors to the economy both as workers and consumers.
It’s time to bring our policies into modern times along with our labor force. Read on for stories and analysis that will help make fair pay a reality for families!
***
Equal Pay is About Economic Security for Middle Class Families, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
The True Value of Work: A Blog Carnival Honoring Latinas and Equal Pay Day, Janet Murguia, National Council of La Raza
Securing Equal Pay, Cecilia Muñoz, Director of the Domestic Policy Council at the White House
Women’s Work: A Political Flashpoint and an Urgent Policy Imperative, Debra L. Ness, National Partnership for Women and Families
It’s Not a “Mommy War,” It’s a War on Moms, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, CEO/Executive Director, MomsRising.org
The Unfortunate Irony in Equal Pay Day, Mary Kay Henry, SEIU
Wage Theft, Sexual Harassment and Workplace Violence: The Troubling Reality of Many Latina and Immigrant Workers, Hector E. Sanchez, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA)
Let’s Get Women Out of the Red, Gerald McEntee, AFSCME
Low Income Women and Their Families Can’t afford a Gender Wage Gap, Nicky Goren, Washington Area Women’s Foundation
A Lesson From the U.S. Military, Kimberly Olson, Colonel, US Air Force (retired)
On Equal Pay Day, Step Up or Step Out of the Way, Deborah L. Frett, Business and Professional Women’s Foundation
More than a Date: The Connection Between Tax Day and Equal Pay Day, Kristin Maschka
This is the Year to Close the Wage Gap, Liz O’Donnell, Hello Ladies
Debunking Myths About Motherhood and Equal Pay, Elizabeth Gedmark, A Better Balance
Equal Pay for Equal Work: Much More Than a Nuisance, National Association of Social Workers
Demanding Equal Pay for Equal Work, Laurie Young, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Happy Equal Pay Day!, Carol Joyner, Labor Project for Working Families
This Equal Pay Day, Look to the States, Emily Wilson, Wider Opportunities for Women
What Year is This Anyway?, Claire Moshenberg, MomsRising.org
A Small Doc for Equal Pay; A Giant Leap for One Woman, Kate Bryant
Football Guide to Fair Pay, Janet Hill, Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW)
On Equal Pay Day, Let’s Demand Change From Wal-Mart, Jenya Cassidy, Labor Project for Working Families
Unequal Pay and Women’s Economic Security, Mary Murphy, Wider Opportunities for Women
An anti-family conservative agenda, Ellen Bravo, Family Values at Work
A Good Job For Every Woman, Kelli Owens, YWCA
Happy Equal Pay Day! We’re All Caught Up, Colleen Crinion, Get Off My Soapbox
Unequal Pay Day for Black and Latina Women, Julie Ajinkya, Center for American Progress
Facing the Wage Gap as a Recent College Grad, Vanessa Harbin, Institute for Women’s Policy Research
California Women Earn 84 Cents for Every Man’s Dollar: Latinas Make 57 Cents, Dennis Romero, LA Weekly
10 Facts about Latino Women and Pay Inequity, Vanessa Cárdenas, Center for American Progress
Video and Infographics
Video of MomsRising bloggers Ellen Bravo (Family Values at Work) and Joanne Bamberger (PunditMom) on MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry’s show
Check out the infographics at the Facebook Page of the National Partnership for Women and Families
Fact Sheets
New Study: Men Earn More Than Women Within Nearly All the Most Common Occupations, Caroline Dobuzinskis, Institute for Women’s Policy Research
National Partnership for Women and Families resources:
Tipped Minimum Wage Stories
I worked in a restaurant as a server earning $2.65 and could not afford to eat, Brandi Trapp
California Restaurant Owner Speaks Out in Favor of Raising the Tipped Minimum Wage, Nicolas Sanchez, owner of Platano Restaurant
Out of the Kitchen and Into the Streets!, Saru Jayaraman, ROC-United
Women are Worth More than $2.13, Nikki Lewis
New report highlights dismal treatment of women workers in restaurant industry, Marisa Treviño, Latina Lista
En español:
$2.13 no compra ni un galón de leche, Elisa Batista, MomsRising.org
Un dueño de restaurante salvadoreño en California a favor del proyecto de ley WAGES, Nicolas Sanchez, Platano Salvadoran Restaurant
Menos propinas para trabajadores, Univision Noticias
6 Comments
March 22, 2013 at 5:04 am by tequiladezert.comGreetings from Idaho! I’m bored at work so I decided to check out your website on my iphone during lunch break. I love the knowledge you provide here and can’t wait to take a look
when I get home. I’m amazed at how fast your blog loaded on my phone .. I’m not even
using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, fantastic site!
[Reply]
March 4, 2013 at 6:52 pm by RheaWhen I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and
now each time a comment is added I get several emails with the same comment.
Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Bless you!
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February 26, 2013 at 11:22 pm by ShawnHello! I hope you don’t mind but I decided to publish your weblog: http://www.momsrising.org/blog/equal-pay-day-a-blog-carnival/ to my on-line directory website. I used, “UPDATEDx3! Equal Pay Day: A Joint Blog Carnival With National Women
[Reply]
May 2, 2012 at 3:22 am by A MomDr. Drago ~
I do believe that it is time that you excused yourself from any blog that concerns women’s rights, and in particular the rights of mothers, due to the following:
February 7, 2012
Scholar Known for His Studies of Women in the Work Force Is Convicted of Sexual Abuse
By Robin Wilson
Robert W. Drago—a prominent scholar of issues affecting women in the work force, including academe—was convicted of misdemeanor sexual abuse of a minor last week in Superior Court of Washington, D.C.
Mr. Drago, who quit his job as research director of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research last September after he was arrested on the sexual-abuse charge, will be listed on the national registry of sex offenders for 10 years as a result of his conviction. A judge sentenced him to 18 months probation, and he must perform 200 hours of community service. He also will be evaluated to determine whether he should be required to undergo counseling.
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April 20, 2012 at 10:04 am by SamLow wages for the same amount of work done. I find it quite discriminating whatsoever the reason maybe for offering less wages to the working women.
Similarly in few vocations men are out paid over men for obvious reasons, which I suppose is bias as well.
But nevertheless the wages should be given as per the kind of work and not on the basis of who performs the work.
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April 17, 2012 at 5:12 pm by Robert DragoThis is an incredibly diverse array of wonderful blogs for equal pay day. Congrats! However, the blog from Ann Romney seems to be missing, or maybe she delegated the task to Mitt, or maybe he asked Seamus to write it (now that he’s off of the car roof
.
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