March 14 is Equal Pay Day. Statistics show on average, women need to work until March 14 of the following year to earn what men make in a single year. Disparities vary widely by state, but in 2019, women made on average $10,000 less a year than men did.
The latest Census Bureau data shows that women who work full time are paid $0.84 for every dollar a man makes. When you include part-time and seasonal workers, that drops to just $0.77. The pay gap widens even more by race. Compared to White men, Black women working full-time earn $0.67 on the dollar, while Latina and Native American women earn just $0.57 on the dollar.
Why are more states changing pay transparency laws?
New laws mean more employers are required to share salary data with prospective employees.
The good news, though, is pay transparency is on the rise. New data from Indeed found the employer-provided salaries in job postings more than doubled from 2020, from 18% to 43%, largely due to new pay transparency laws and the tight job market. The ERA Coalition is renewing the effort to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, which would add protections such as equal pay for women and other marginalized groups in the U.S. to the U.S. Constitution. President and CEO Zakiya Thomas joined Scripps News' "Morning Rush" to discuss where things stand with getting the ERA ratified. She also discusses the structural, historical and systemic issues at play when it comes to equal pay between men and women.
