Pay Gaps Between Women and Men Persist; Widest for Hispanic and Black Women

The  American Association of University Women (AAUW) has issued a new report, The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap, analyzing the stubborn persistence of considerable pay gaps between male and female workers. While there has been progress since the early 1970’s,  in 2009, women on average earned just 77% of what men earned for full-time work, according to the report.

The report also examined the gender pay gap by race and ethnicity and found that compared with White male wage earners, Hispanic women or Latinas experienced the largest pay gap (60%), followed by African-American women (70%), White women (80%), and Asian women (91%).

In documenting these pay disparities, the report’s authors address the argument that pay gaps are the result of women choosing lower-paying occupations. While this is a factor, the report finds that:

After accounting for college major, occupation, industry, sector, hours worked, workplace flexibility, experience, educational attainment, enrollment status, GPA, institution selectivity, age, race/ethnicity, region, marital status, and number of children, a 5 percent difference in the earnings of male and female college graduates one year after graduation was still unexplained.

With an increasing number of women serving as the head of households and primary income sources, closing the gender pay gap and supporting laws such as the Paycheck Fairness Act are top priorities for the AAUW and civil and human rights advocates. On April 12, advocates around the country will be raising their voices for Equal  Pay Day.

“Equal Pay Day reminds the nation that women had to work all of 2010 and nearly a quarter of 2011 to make the 2010 earnings of their male counterparts,” said AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman, CAE. “As long as pay equity undermines the economic security of women and their families, it will be a priority for AAUW.”