CITY PAYS LESS TO WOMEN, WORKERS OF COLOR

Study on income equity blames factors other than discrimination

The first comprehensive pay equity study of San Diego’s city workforce shows women earn 17.6 percent less than men and people of color earn 20.8 percent less than Whites.

The study says the gaps in pay are primarily caused by factors other than intentional bias — such as differences in overtime hours worked, varying pay impacts of parenthood, and the fact that men and Whites were more likely to pursue higher-paying jobs.

For example, White men dominate the two fields with the city’s highest paid jobs and the most overtime hours: police officer and firefighter.

Meanwhile, women and minorities are overrepresented in lowerpaying administrative and clerical jobs.

The 165-page study, which the City Council is scheduled to discuss today, says discrimination or intentional bias could be responsible for roughly one-eighth

of the gender and ethnicity pay gaps that can’t be explained by other factors.

But the analysis says the unexplained portions of the pay gaps could also be caused by two factors that could not be studied due to insufficient information: education levels and performance reviews.

The analysis, by consultant Analytica of Scripps Ranch, urges the city to gather data on those factors in future pay equity studies. Analytica conducted the study for $250,000.

Analytica praised San Diego officials for ordering such a comprehensive study, which was prompted by a 2019 city audit that uncovered gender and ethnic pay gaps and deemed them worthy of more detailed study.

“The city of San Diego is setting the standard for what it means for a municipality to do one’s part in addressing this worldwide issue,” Analytica said.

Equity has emerged as a higher-priority issue for San Diego in recent months. In the wake of racial protests last year over police violence against minorities, the city created an Office of Race and Equity. San Diego also has launched efforts to boost environmental equity in low-income neighborhoods, get dirt roads paved in poor areas and help minorities find affordable housing more easily. Mayor

Todd Gloria said Monday he is working to create a more equitable workplace for city employees.

“Understanding the city’s challenges with pay equity is the first step, and it won’t be our last,” Gloria said. “I’ve long been committed to ensuring equal pay for equal work, and I intend to make sure the city lives up to this value.”

The study shows that the city’s gender pay gap has been shrinking in recent years, while the ethnicity pay gap has been growing.

The gender pay gap shrank from 20.1 percent in 2013 to 17.6 percent in 2019, the final year included in the analysis. Women make up just under one-third of the city’s roughly 11,000-member workforce.

Between 2011 and 2019, the average total compensation for women increased from $63,900 to $77,800. Meanwhile, the average total compensation for men climbed from $78,700 to $94,400 during that period.

The ethnicity pay gap has increased from 17 percent in 2011 to 20.8 percent in 2019. Whites make up 45 percent of the city’s workforce, with people of color accounting for the other 55 percent.

Average total compensation for non-White city workers increased from $67,000 in 2011 to $79,600 in 2019. Meanwhile, the average total compensation for Whites climbed from $80,800 to $100,600 during that period.

Of the city’s designated non-White workers, just over half are Hispanic or Latino, nearly 22 percent are Black, 13.6 percent are Asian and 7.4 percent are Filipino. The study didn’t calculate pay gaps for individual ethnic groups.

The study does not address where San Diego ranks nationally on pay for nonWhites, but it says the gender pay gap compares favorably.

U.S. Department of Labor data from 2019 show women earned 23.1 percent less than their male counterparts nationwide, a significantly wider margin than the 17.6 percent gender gap for San Diego city workers.

The different jobs people hold is the No. 1 factor in the city’s pay gaps, the study says. That factor is responsible for an estimated 82 percent of the ethnic pay gap and an estimated 67 percent of the gender pay gap.

The impact is most stark in the city’s three largest job types: police officer, with 1,823 employees; firefighter, with 749 workers; and administrative support, with 1,061 employees.

While women make up 32.3 percent of the overall workforce, they account for only 16.5 percent of police officers and 4 percent of firefighters. But they account for 83 percent of administrative support jobs.

While people of color make up 55 percent of the workforce, they account for 40.6 percent of police officers, 33.4 percent of firefighters and 74.9 percent of administrative support jobs.

Average total compensation for police officers is $124,154 and for firefighters is $129,280, among the highest of any jobs in the city. Average total compensation for administrative support jobs is $56,718, among the lowest.

The study says that the pay disparities in those three job types are large enough to explain the entire gender and ethnicity gaps.

The consultant recommends the city shrink the number of overtime hours firefighters work and track the reasons for failure at each stage of the police recruiting process by gender and ethnicity.

The study also says the city should evaluate whether adjusting job titles and recruiting methods could help reduce the likelihood of women and people of color applying for lower paying positions and men and whites applying for higher paying positions.

Other factors also play a role in the pay gaps, such as whether employees are parents and at what age they first had children.

The consultant recommends the city evaluate benefits, such as subsidized child care, that would help parents better balance parenting and work.

Another factor is overtime, even beyond its impact on police and firefighter pay. It widened the gender pay gap but shrank the ethnic pay gap.

The average female employee worked 48 fewer overtime hours than the average male employee, which contributed approximately 5 percent to the 2019 gender pay gap. The average employee of color worked 22 more overtime hours than White employees, reducing the ethnic pay gap by about 2 percent.