Message from National NOW President Christian F. Nunes
March 15, 2024
Greetings Feminists,
This week we marked Equal Pay Day on March 12, the annual reminder that women who work full-time, year-round take this long into the new year to earn as much as men did the year before. In other words, to make 12 months of a man’s earnings, a woman has to work 14.5 months.
In 2024, women earn just 84 cents for every dollar earned by men—the same figure as last year—and one penny up from 2022. This translates into $9,990 less per year in median earnings.
Economic Justice is one of NOW’s six core issues. NOW advocates to end the practices, laws, barriers and other obstacles that limit women’s freedom and success. We’re working for welfare reform, livable wages, paid sick leave, job discrimination, pay equity, financial literacy, and more. We know that these issues impact women of color at much higher rates and that economic justice is intertwined with racial justice, reproductive freedom, and our other core issues.
According to the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), a woman just starting out will earn $399,600 less over a 40-year career compared to men. For Native women compared to white, non-Hispanic men, total amounts to $1,149,880, for Latinas the losses are $1,218,000, for Black women, 884,800, and for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Other Pacific Islander women (AANHPI) the losses are $187,616.
In this fact sheet, the NWLC shows how women of color experience a wage gap compared to white, Non-Hispanic men at every education level:
“Educational attainment is often seen as a path to economic stability, but women of color are typically paid less than white, non-Hispanic men with the same educational attainment. Often, women of color are also paid less than white, non-Hispanic men with less educational attainment.”
This analysis from the Economic Policy Institute shows how little progress has been made in narrowing the gender wage gap over the past three decades. It underscores how deep-seated these problems are, and why they require the full-on, multi-issue approach that is NOW’s hallmark.
“Women are paid less than men as a result of occupational segregation, devaluation of women’s work, societal norms, and discrimination, all of which took root well before women entered the labor market,” writes the author.
It’s time to end this cycle of discrimination and bring about the transformative change we need to address the gender and racial inequalities that harm women.
This week we marked Equal Pay Day on March 12, the annual reminder that women who work full-time, year-round take this long into the new year to earn as much as men did the year before. In other words, to make 12 months of a man’s earnings, a woman has to work 14.5 months.
In 2024, women earn just 84 cents for every dollar earned by men—the same figure as last year—and one penny up from 2022. This translates into $9,990 less per year in median earnings.
Economic Justice is one of NOW’s six core issues. NOW advocates to end the practices, laws, barriers and other obstacles that limit women’s freedom and success. We’re working for welfare reform, livable wages, paid sick leave, job discrimination, pay equity, financial literacy, and more. We know that these issues impact women of color at much higher rates and that economic justice is intertwined with racial justice, reproductive freedom, and our other core issues.
According to the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), a woman just starting out will earn $399,600 less over a 40-year career compared to men. For Native women compared to white, non-Hispanic men, total amounts to $1,149,880, for Latinas the losses are $1,218,000, for Black women, 884,800, and for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Other Pacific Islander women (AANHPI) the losses are $187,616.
In this fact sheet, the NWLC shows how women of color experience a wage gap compared to white, Non-Hispanic men at every education level:
“Educational attainment is often seen as a path to economic stability, but women of color are typically paid less than white, non-Hispanic men with the same educational attainment. Often, women of color are also paid less than white, non-Hispanic men with less educational attainment.”
This analysis from the Economic Policy Institute shows how little progress has been made in narrowing the gender wage gap over the past three decades. It underscores how deep-seated these problems are, and why they require the full-on, multi-issue approach that is NOW’s hallmark.
“Women are paid less than men as a result of occupational segregation, devaluation of women’s work, societal norms, and discrimination, all of which took root well before women entered the labor market,” writes the author.
It’s time to end this cycle of discrimination and bring about the transformative change we need to address the gender and racial inequalities that harm women.
In solidarity,
Christian
