BOISE, Idaho – Today is Equal Pay Day, marking how long women would have to work into this year in order to make what men did in 2017.

Nationally, women are paid about 80 cents for every dollar a man is paid. In Idaho, the ratio is worse, with women working full-time, year-round jobs making 76 cents for every dollar men receive.

That places the Gem State at 42nd for pay equity. Sylvia Chariton, president of the Boise-area branch of the American Association of University Women, said efforts to close the gap have largely stalled in the past 20 years.

"It has only closed seven cents," Chariton said. "The way things are going now, it will take 100 years. That will be five generations if we do nothing. So, the intent of AAUW is to put an 'expiration date' on pay inequity."

That means AAUW wants to eliminate the gap by 2030, she added.

For women of color, the pay gap is even larger. Latina women make 54 cents and black women make 63 cents for every dollar white men earn. Montana, Utah and Washington state all rank in the bottom 10 for pay inequity as well.

However, Chariton is convinced the country can make progress closing this gap.

"There are three ways that we can begin to mitigate some of this," she explained. "Women need to change the way they think about themselves; employers need to do something different; and the government needs to enact certain laws that have a bit more clout to them."

Women need to identify and articulate their personal value, she said. For its part, AAUW intends to train 10 million women by 2022 on how to negotiate their salaries through its Work Smart program.

In addition to passing such legislation as the Paycheck Fairness Act, AAUW also takes the position that the federal government should reinstate wage data collection, which was halted last year by the Office of Management and Budget.



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Ohio is among the many states where a majority of workers lack access to paid family leave. A new report by Groundwork Ohio finds three in four Ohioans are employed in jobs without the possibility of paid family leave. This means many parents of young children face difficult choices between work and family. Even other conservative states, like Florida and Texas, have developed voluntary systems allowing private market benefits.

Lynanne Gutierrez, president and CEO of Groundwork Ohio, said the need for policies that support families and their workforce participation has never been clearer.

"There is currently a mismatch in policy, and the desires of both policymakers and the people of Ohio, when it comes to both the needs of their young children and families and the workforce," she explained.

The report was supported by grant funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. While some people may take advantage of accrued vacation or short-term disability benefits, access to these options remains uneven. Nationwide, only about half of full-time employees have short-term disability benefits, and only one in five part-time employees.

The report also highlights the economic and developmental stakes for young children in families without paid leave. Research shows that nearly 23% of new mothers in the U.S. return to work within 10 days of giving birth, driven by financial need and limited options that support newborn care. Gutierrez stresses the impact on childhood development when families lack adequate support.

"We know that one in four children under the age of five across the state of Ohio live in poverty; they're among our most vulnerable. And so, the more support we can get to children and families in that unique period of time really sets a foundation for their lifelong success," she continued.

Ohio is one of 29 states without a state-administered paid family leave law, but public support for a national policy is high. The report says 94% of Democrats, 83% of Independents, and 74% of Republicans favor a federal paid family leave policy.


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Researchers at Colorado State University have been able to link the economic stress experienced by 78% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, to behavior that is bad for workers and company bottom lines.

Keaton Fletcher, assistant professor of industrial organizational psychology at Colorado State University and the report's co-author, said people who supervise other workers, at all management levels, are unleashing their economic frustrations on their direct reports.

"When they feel financially stressed, they are more likely to be abusive, berating or belittling, demeaning, sometimes yelling or cursing at subordinates," Fletcher outlined.

The findings, published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, showed financial stress is experienced by bosses regardless of their salary levels, and men are more likely than women to be abusive toward subordinates. The research was done in collaboration with the Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico.

When bosses cannot pay their bills, Fletcher explained they feel like they are not in control of their lives. Bullying a subordinate is one way to try and regain a sense of personal agency. Gender expectations may also play a role. Fletcher pointed out women are more likely to be punished socially for "aggressive" behavior than men.

"Both men and women feel this lack of control in response to financial stress," Fletcher observed. "The data show that men are more likely to engage in those abusive behaviors when they have this feeling of a lack of control."

Companies tolerating abusive bosses are vulnerable to costly lawsuits and Fletcher added even workers who do not report abuse or sue can hurt a company's bottom line. They are more likely to show up late for work, be less productive, steal or talk badly about the company to other people.

"They are also more likely to quit," Fletcher stressed. "It is so expensive to replace employees. Pretty much across the board, having abusive supervisors just is financially costly to organizations."

Advocates for paid family leave in Michigan are urging lawmakers to pass the Michigan Family Leave Optimal Coverage before the 2024 legislative session ends.

Introduced last year, the measure aims to create a 15-week paid family and medical leave program.

Danielle Atkinson, founder and national executive director of the advocacy organization Mothering Justice, a nonprofit empowering mothers of color to drive family policy change, outlined key points her group has presented to lawmakers at a virtual news conference hosted by the Michigan League for Public Policy.

"This is the issue that we see again and again presented by new moms, people who are cancer survivors, and people who are saying goodbye at the end of life to their loved ones, that they can't afford it," Atkinson pointed out. "That they're making choices between loving and making a living."

According to a report from Michigan's Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, 71% of Michiganders are in favor of the bill. This year's legislative session ends December 19th.

One state labor department report said if Michigan adopted the strongest plan, a worker earning the median wage of around $47,000 a year would pay about $180 a year and someone making minimum wage would pay about $80 a year, as payroll deductions for their leave.

Atkinson believes the Nov. 5 election clearly demonstrated the people's voices were heard.

"We know that in this last election, people voted with their financial restraints and interests at heart," Atkinson observed. "We know this policy is overwhelmingly popular, because it's overwhelmingly needed."

Thirteen states and Washington, D.C., have already passed paid leave policies, including New York and California.


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