skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Gender Pay Gap Could Lead to 'Job-Hopping' for Ore. Women

play audio
Play

Tuesday, April 4, 2017   

PORTLAND, Ore. – Today is Equal Pay Day, marking the additional months into 2017 it takes women to catch up with men's salaries from 2016. Nationally, women are paid 80 cents for every dollar men are paid for the same job.

Women in Oregon fare only slightly better that the nationwide average, receiving only 81 cents for every dollar men receive, according to a study from the American Association of University Women. However, the differential still stacks up to a loss of more than $9,000 annually.

Brenda Eichelberger, a senior instructor at Portland State University and a committee member of Mercy Corps Northwest's Women's Business Center, says the pay gap can lead to job-hopping for women who can find more competitive pay elsewhere.

"They train them and then they go off and have the opportunity to develop in other companies and they know the industries," she said.

The pay gap is worse for women of color. Nationally, a Hispanic woman makes 54 cents and an African-American woman makes 63 cents for every dollar a white man makes. If the pay gap continues to close at its current rate, Oregon won't see pay equity until 2055.

The Women's Business Center, the only one in Oregon funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration, provides workshops across the state to help women develop their own businesses, educating them on everything from how to get loans to writing out business plans.

Eichelberger notes that starting a business is one way women can avoid losing wages to the pay gap.

"There is not a glass ceiling if you're a minority or a female and you own your own business," she added. "Then you're able to be in control of your resources."

Eichelberger says creating awareness about the issue is the first step toward solving it and praises the Women's Business Center's ability to empower and educate women, whether they start a business or not.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021