Strive to close the gender pay gap

As our communities work to recover from the pandemic and create workplaces that provide opportunities for all people to succeed and thrive, we must not lose this opportunity to renew our perspectives on other work-related challenges.

One of the most significant and persistent challenges is the wage gap between men and women. Wednesday marks the date that the wages of average women workers finally catch up to what their male counterparts earned last year.

In 1963, the Equal Pay Act was signed into law, requiring equal pay for equal work among women and men. National Equal Pay Day is the annual observance that emphasizes the amount of time — often months into a new year — it takes for women’s wages to catch up to men’s wages from the previous year.

The fact that it will take nearly three additional months before women earn as much as men is egregious enough, but it only gets worse. For many women of color, including Indigenous women, Black women and Latinas, equal pay will come much later in the year.

That date may be even later for mothers. And while we often observe the contributions of mothers, we often find those same mothers facing glaring pay disparities for their contributions in the workforce due to a lack of paid family medical leave, paid sick days, flexible schedules, and access to quality and affordable child care.

Our economy is dependent on the labor of women, particularly across key sectors such as education, health care, child care and elder care. In 2018, women made up nearly 80 million employees — nearly half of America’s workforce. Yet the wage gap continues to undervalue their work, which has had a powerful impact on our nation.

In 2019, Texas women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median usual weekly earnings of $772, or 80.9 percent of the $954 median usual weekly earnings of their male counterparts, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

Looking at a specific example, in 2019 women were more than twice as likely to work in certain occupations and still earn less than their male co-workers, such as education ($987 for women and $1,265 for men) and health care ($1,130 for women and $1,422 for men).

Among high school teachers, women only earn about 80 percent of the salary of men. While we treasure our teachers and health care workers, we have a renewed appreciation for their roles amid this pandemic and know their work to be crucial.

According to the research, the pay gap is narrowing but ongoing in part due to dynamics that might include varying family responsibilities, discrimination and distinct networks that influence professional advancement. It is not too late for individuals to affect change, each in her or his circle of influence.

Let’s recognize how far we have come and also become resolute in closing the pay gap permanently. Organizational leaders must improve policies that fall short and work to enhance federal legislation that seeks to level wage gaps, while community influencers work to increase awareness.

While we work to achieve the intent of the Equal Pay Act, let’s strive to make discussions on pay discrepancies obsolete.