Economic equity news is a weekly round-up of articles by Donna Seymour of AAUW-NYS that features our core values of poverty solutions, opportunity and access, workplace fairness, healthy lives, equal pay and representation at all tables. Sign up for our mailing list to receive this directly to your inbox.
Women around the country “celebrated” Equal Pay Day on April 12, but mothers (and most women of color) have to wait even longer for their paychecks to catch up. May 16 represents the symbolic day when the median pay of mothers who work full time, year-round, catches up to the pay that working fathers received the previous year. Mothers typically are paid only 73 cents for every dollar fathers are paid — mothers face a pay gap larger than the 21-cent gap between women and men overall.
- The Wage Gap for Mothers, State by State via National Women’s Law Center
Women in the U.S. who work full time, year round are typically paid only 79 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts, but the wage gap between mothers and fathers is even larger — mothers who work outside the home full time, year round typically make only 73 cents for every dollar paid to fathers.
Last Tuesday, Bloomberg unveiled a new index intended to showcase what the biggest financial players are doing to promote gender equality. The index, called the Bloomberg Financial Services Gender Equality Index (GEI), includes 26 public companies that are best-in-class in the financial industry in terms of providing opportunities for women. “But this is just the inaugural group,” says Angela Sun, head of strategy and corporate development at Bloomberg LP. “We expect many more [companies] to come on board this year.”
- 5 Reasons Why Social Security Matters for Women’s Economic Security via Center for American Progress
A gender gap in both earnings and access to private pension coverage means that, on average, women who have already reached retirement age have access to fewer resources than men. It should come as no surprise, then, that Social Security has played a key role in helping women and their families stay afloat. While men historically have been more likely to be insured through Social Security, women’s increasing labor-force participation has narrowed the gap considerably, particularly among younger workers.
Donna Seymour, who hails from the (far upstate) North Country of NYS, has spent 40 plus years advocating for children, women and family issues, equity, sustainability, and social justice issues. Currently serving as the Public Policy VP for AAUW-NYS (the American Association University Women), she is also a member the League of Women Voters, the Equal Pay Coalition, PTA, NOW, and Planned Parenthood, just to name a few.