New data released for Equal Pay Day tomorrow reveal the significant costs of Vermontâ s gender-based wage gap. Women in Vermont are paid just 84 cents for every dollar paid to men, amounting to a yearly gap in wages of $6,671. African American women and Latinas in Vermont are paid $10,322 and $2,303 less than all men in the state, respectively. With nearly 23,300 Vermont households headed by women, the new data show that these gaps harm both families and the state economy.
The analysis was conducted by the National Partnership for Women & Families. The full report on the wage gap in Vermont, whichranks first among the 50 states, can be foundhere.
â This new analysis illustrates just how much harm the wage gap does to women and families throughout the country, and especially to women of color where the gap between the wages paid to women and men is staggering,’said National Partnership President Debra L. Ness. â With state economies struggling and women increasingly serving as the sole or co-breadwinners for their families, tens of thousands of dollars in lost wages each year takes a tremendous toll.â
According to the report, if the gap between menâ s and womenâ s wages were eliminated, each full-time working woman in Vermont could afford to pay for groceries for one year, buy 1,700 more gallons of gas, pay mortgage and utilities for five more months, pay rent for eight more months, or purchase family health insurance premiums for 2.2 more years. These necessities would be particularly important for the 30.9 percent of Vermontâ s women-headed households currently living below the poverty level.
Nationally, women working full time are paid just 77 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts. Just as they do in Vermont, women of color fare worse. African American women are paid 62 cents and Latinas are paid just 54 cents for every dollar paid to men. The gap has been closing at a rate of less than half a cent per year since passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963.
â The Equal Pay Act was enacted 49 years ago and women are still paid 23 cents less than men on the dollar,’Ness added. â Today, the wage gap causes enormous harm to women and families. It spans industries and persists regardless of education level. Americaâ s women and families urgently need lawmakers to do much more to promote fair wages. Congress must not wait any longer. Passing the Paycheck Fairness Act must be a priority now.â
The Paycheck Fairness Act, which would close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act and establish stronger workplace protections for women, was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in the last two Congresses, but it fell two votes short of moving forward in the Senate in 2010. It has been reintroduced in the current Congress.
The National Partnershipâ s research on the wage gap was released the day before Equal Pay Day ‘which marks how far into the New Year women must work in order to catch up with what men were paid the year before. The data spans all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Each of the reports, along with charts ranking the states by wage gap for all women and women of color, are available atwww.nationalpartnership.org/epd.
National Partnership for Women and Families. 4.16.2012.