skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, September 19, 2024

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

U.S. gender wage gap grows for first time in a decade; Trump has embraced NC's Mark Robinson, calling him 'Martin Luther King on steroids'; Volunteers sought as early voting kicks off in MN; Women's political contributions in congressional races fall short of men's.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rising threats of political violence, a Federal Reserve rate cut, crypto industry campaign contributions and reproductive rights are shaping today's political landscape.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

Analysts Hesitant About Women's Pay Progress

play audio
Play

Tuesday, March 15, 2022   

Today is Equal Pay Day, marking how far into the year women must work to earn what men were paid in 2021.

While there appears to be progress in narrowing the gap, policy analysts suspect it is a statistical illusion.

Women working full-time year-round earn 83 cents for every dollar paid to men, about a penny more than last year.

Erin Ryan, managing director of the Ohio Women's Public Policy Network, noted the data failed to take into account the low-wage women pushed out of the workforce during the pandemic.

"It makes it seem as if everyone's wages have gone up, when in reality it's the loss of women in these sectors," Ryan explained. "The loss of women because of having to leave for caregiving reasons that has created that narrowing of the wage gap."

There are more than one million fewer women in the labor force than in early 2020. Ohio's gender wage gap is slightly worse than the national average at 79 cents on the dollar, and there are disparities as well. Black women in Ohio make 64 cents for every dollar paid to white men and for Latina women in Ohio it's 61 cents.

Ryan pointed out inequities in pay are contributing to the wealth gap, which affects the long-term economic security of families and communities.

"We really look at the data of cents on the dollar that women are missing, but it added up over time," Ryan reported. "This has an impact over their lifetime in their ability to excel in their workforce, to pay for basic necessities, to build retirement savings."

And she noted in Ohio, measures that would create new requirements for employers to ensure women and men are paid equally have consistently failed.

"These bills are introduced session after session after session," Ryan remarked. "They have wide support from worker-friendly groups, women's groups, and they don't move forward regardless of the fact that they would make a really foundational difference in the lives of women and families who are held back by not having equal pay."

Nationally in 2019, full-time working women earned roughly $10,000 dollars a year less than men.

Reporting by Ohio News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Recipients of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Grant can now access funding to drive financing for thousands of climate-focused and clean energy initiatives. (bilanol/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Michigan's most vulnerable communities are receiving federal funding to fight the devastating effects of climate change. It's part of the $27 billion …


Health and Wellness

play sound

September is Health Literacy Month, and a Denver-based group is working to help health professionals break a persistent pattern of discrimination …

Environment

play sound

A new report contends fossil fuel funding has biased Columbia University's climate research. The report, by two Columbia students, shows the …


Alabama releases roughly 220,279 men and 78,247 women from its prisons and jails each year. (Chad Robertson/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An Alabama woman is on a mission to help people who've been incarcerated for decades successfully transition back into society. The mission to …

Health and Wellness

play sound

In North Carolina, the gap between Medicaid reimbursement rates and the actual cost of dental care has reached a crisis point, impacting both …

So far in 2024, community health centers in North Dakota have screened 11,580 patients for food insecurity. Through those screenings, more than three thousand box meals have been distributed. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

September is Hunger Action Month. In North Dakota, it isn't just food banks trying to help underserved populations get nutritious items. Health …

Environment

play sound

Marine biologists conducting deep dives near five California islands are collecting data they hope will strengthen the case for ending gillnet fishing…

Environment

play sound

Researchers at Iowa State University are taking aim at the huge amount of energy used by data centers, now and in the future. They have developed a …

 

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