Pay disparity Latinas face tied to education inequities

Once a year, Latinas pull out a big red marker and draw an ugly circle on the calendar.

Oct. 21 marked the day this year when Latina pay finally catches up with the pay that white, non-Hispanic males made the year before. I dread the day. Every year we drag out the same data that shows that the economic game is inherently stacked up against us but year after year, the date rolls around and we haven’t seen much progress.

If we're to change this trajectory, education must serve as the catalyst.

Research shows that Latinas account for nearly $1 trillion in U.S. buying power, but earn on average only 57 cents to the dollar paid to white men. Latinas would have to work 33 more years to earn the same amount as white, nonHispanic men earn over a 40-year career.

So, this week marks another year to declare we must do better. But this year is worse.

The COVID-19 pandemic pulled back the curtain on our economic inequity in a sobering way. One in three jobs held by women were deemed “essential” during the pandemic and 3 in 10 Latinas are front-line workers.

Latinas typically lose over $1,000,000 over their respective careers because of unfair pay practices and policies. Our mothers, sisters, aunts and co-workers endured the highest risks and suffered disproportionate rates of illness and death, all while being paid the lowest wages.

This inequality impacts more than Latinas; our country’s viability is at risk, driven by the rapid growth of the Latino population in our workforce.

Latinos account for 51% of the U.S. population growth over a 10-year period. We represent 18.7% of the US population, totaling 62.1 million people, versus a white population that is declining and aging out of the workforce.

The economic message is clear: if the earning power of Latinas remains a fraction of other labor groups, an ever larger part of the population will be unable to keep pace with rising housing prices, health care costs and, ultimately, a safe and comfortable retirement.

This is an issue that impacts everyone, not just Latina workers.

Stephanie Parra, executive director of the Arizona-based nonprofit ALL in Education, recognizes that this historical low wage scenario has its roots in educational inequity. Her organization is tackling the challenge of building an Arizona where no child is at risk of falling behind in school not because it’s moral, but because it is an economic imperative.

As she noted by example, if Arizona was to reduce the Latino dropout rate by half, the additional students who graduate would collectively earn $31 million, which translates to $23 million more in spending annually.

True equality of earnings and access requires that we fight for change at all levels. I have spent my career advocating for policies literally from cradle to grave, from early education to retirement, to help create a more equal playing field for our Latinx community.

Arizona can lead the way in this equity play.

As the chief impact officer of Encantos, an edtech company, I am working to end the digital divide that affects up to 12 million of our youngest learners at the same time as we are building digital tools for them to learn the new fundamental skills they’ll need to thrive as adults in the workforce.

Our children need the learning skills, like critical thinking and creativity, that will help them transition to information workers as more manufacturing and front-line jobs are lost to automation and AI. They’ll need financial literacy skills to help save, invest, and generate wealth to participate more fully in our economy.

Arizonans need to lean on Gov. Doug Ducey and schools Superintendent Kathy Hoffman to work collaboratively to address academic impact of lost instructional time; expand summer and afterschool programs; support the educator workforce; and meet student’s social, emotional and mental health needs exacerbated by the pandemic.

I have no illusions that this will not be the last year we need to discuss Latina Equal Pay Day, but I do know that we can move it earlier and earlier in the year with advocacy, educational system changes and more equitable wage workplace policies and practices.