Analysis of Just-Released Census Data Looks at Income Loss for Women Nationally and in All 50 States, as Measured by Food, Housing and Gas
Vermont Business Magazine An analysis of US Census Bureau data released this morning shows that the gender-based wage gap is hurting women and families in every single state. Overall, women who are employed full time, year round in the United States are paid 79 cents for every dollar paid to men, amounting to a yearly gap in wages of $10,762. If the gap were eliminated, on average, a working woman in this country would have enough money for 1.6 years’ worth of food, more than seven months of mortgage and utilities payments, more than 11 more months of rent, or 4,635 gallons of gas.
The analysis was conducted by the National Partnership for Women & Families and spans all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It can be found at NationalPartnership.org/Gap.
Vermont Results
In Vermont, a woman who holds a full-time job is paid, on average, $39,322 per year while a man who holds a full-time job is paid $46,911 per year. This means that women in Vermont are paid 84 cents for every dollar paid to men, amounting to a yearly wage gap of $7,589 between men and women who work full time in the state.1 Nationally, women who hold jobs full time, year round are paid, on average, just 79 cents for every dollar paid to men.2 For women of color, the wage gap is larger. On average, African American women are paid 60 cents and Latinas are paid just 55 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.3
What Does the Wage Gap Mean for Vermont Women? On average, Vermont women who are employed full time lose a combined total of more than 705 million dollars every year due to the wage gap.4 Families, businesses and the economy suffer as a result. These lost wages mean families have less money to spend on goods and services that help drive economic growth.
For example, if the wage gap were eliminated, on average, a working woman in Vermont would have enough money for approximately:
- 58 more weeks of food for her family (more than one year’s worth);5
- Five more months of mortgage and utilities payments;6
- More than eight more months of rent;7 or
- 3,213 additional gallons of gas.8
Vermont Women and Families Cannot Afford Discrimination and Lower Wages
Vermont women are responsible for the economic security of their families.
- In the United States today, mothers are primary or sole breadwinners in nearly 40 percent of families,9 and married mothers are the primary or co-breadwinners in more than half of families.10 That means women’s wages are key to their families’ ability to make ends meet and get ahead.
- Nearly 25,000 family households in Vermont are headed by women.11 About 35 percent of those families, or 8,707 family households, have incomes that fall below the poverty level.12 Eliminating the wage gap would provide much-needed income to women whose wages sustain their households.
The Wage Gap Cannot Be Explained By Personal Choices
- The wage gap persists regardless of industry. In the civilian industries that employ the most full-time employees – health care and social assistance, manufacturing, retail trade and educational services – women are consistently paid less than men. In the health care and social assistance industry, women are paid just 71 cents for every dollar paid to men. In manufacturing, just 75 cents. In retail trade, 78 cents. And in educational services, women are paid 87 cents for every dollar paid to men. Across all industries, women are paid lower salaries than men.13
- The wage gap is present within occupations. Among the occupations with the most people working full time, year round – sales, production, management, and office and administrative support – women are paid less than men. In sales occupations, women are paid just 62 cents for every dollar paid to men. In production, just 66 cents. In management, 80 cents. And in office and administrative support occupations, women are paid just 87 cents for every dollar paid to men.14
- The wage gap exists regardless of education level. Educational attainment alone will not eliminate the wage gap. Women with master’s degrees working full time, year round are paid just 72 cents for every dollar paid to men with master’s degrees. Further, among fulltime, year-round workers, women with doctoral degrees are paid less than men with master’s degrees, and women with master’s degrees are paid less than men with bachelor’s degrees.15
- Experts warn that the wage gap will not close in most women’s lifetimes. If change continues at the same slow pace as it has during the last 50 years, it will take nearly 50 more years – until 2059 – for women and men to finally reach pay parity.16
The Public Overwhelmingly Supports Fair Pay Policies
- Nearly half of likely voters in the United States (49 percent) believe that the wage gap has a major impact on the U.S. economy as a whole.17
- More than two-thirds of U.S. voters (68 percent) favor policies that would address gender discrimination, including paying women less than men for the same work. Less than one-quarter of voters oppose such a proposal. Both women (72 percent) and men (64 percent) say they are supportive.18
- Nearly two-thirds of voters support the Paycheck Fairness Act. In a 2014 nationwide survey, 62 percent of likely voters said they supported the Paycheck Fairness Act, a federal proposal that would help combat wage discrimination. Support crosses demographic and ideological lines, with 83 percent of Democrats, 58 percent of independents and 44 percent of Republican voters saying they support the Paycheck Fairness Act.19
Across US
“This study confirms that a punishing wage gap persists for women in every corner of the country and the costs for women, their families and our national and state economies are significant,” said Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families. “That women in their states are losing tens of thousands of dollars in critical income each year should be enough to compel lawmakers to act, but too many have failed to do so, especially at the national level. America’s women and families – and our nation – cannot afford to wait any longer for the fair and family friendly measures that would help.”
The National Partnership’s analysis finds that the states with the largest cents-on-the-dollar pay differences are Louisiana, Utah, Wyoming, West Virginia and North Dakota. Each state-by-state fact sheet includes an analysis of what the wage gaps mean for women’s spending power in terms of costs for food, housing and gas. Loss of income that could go toward these basic necessities is especially relevant for the more than 15.2 million households in the United States that are headed by women, 31 percent of whom live in poverty, according to the new Census data.
The new study also includes the wage gap for women of color at the national level. African American women who work full time, year round are paid 60 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men who work full time, year round. Latinas are paid just 55 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. For Asian American women, the gap is smaller but persists. On average, Asian American women are paid 84 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.
“Closing the wage gap would help keep women and families from losing much-needed income while benefitting our communities and country,” Ness continued. “Lawmakers in some states have taken steps to combat the wage gap by passing legislation that makes it easier to discover and address discriminatory pay practices. It is past time for federal lawmakers to take real action to promote equality and economic security for America’s women and families by passing the Paycheck Fairness Act, which is a reasonable and common sense proposal that has languished in Congress for too long.”
The Paycheck Fairness Act would close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act, help to break patterns of pay discrimination, and establish stronger workplace protections for women. In a 2014 nationwide survey, 62 percent of likely voters said they supported the Paycheck Fairness Act – 83 percent of Democrats, 58 percent of independents and 44 percent of Republicans. President Obama has called on Congress to pass the bill, and the administration just issued a final rule that will eliminate a barrier to fair pay for 28 million people who work for federal contractors.
In April, the National Partnership released a report, An Unlevel Playing Field: America’s Gender-Based Wage Gap, Binds of Discrimination, And A Path Forward, that outlines several measures that would help close the wage gap including: the Paycheck Fairness Act; the Healthy Families Act, which would establish a national paid sick days standard; the Family And Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act, which would create a national paid family and medical leave insurance program; and proposals to increase the minimum wage, strengthen pregnant worker protections and promote fair scheduling.
The National Partnership’s analysis of the wage gap uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau and spans all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The findings for each state, along with state rankings, are available at NationalPartnership.org/Gap.
The National Partnership for Women & Families is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group dedicated to promoting fairness in the workplace, access to quality health care, and policies that help women and men meet the dual demands of work and family. More information is available at www.NationalPartnership.org.
NOTES:
1 U.S. Census Bureau. (2015). American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates 2014, Geographies: All States within United States and Puerto Rico, Table B20017: Median Earnings in
the Past 12 Months by Sex by Work Experience in the Past 12 Months for the Population 16 Years and Over with Earnings in the Past 12 Months. Retrieved 17 September 2015, from
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.x...
2 U.S. Census Bureau. (2015). Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) Supplement: Table PINC-05: Work Experience in 2014 – People 15 Years Old and Over
by Total Money Earnings in 2014, Age, Race, Hispanic Origin, and Sex. Retrieved 17 September 2015, from
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/cpstables/032015/perinc/pinc05_000.htm (Unpublished calculation based on the median earnings of all men and women who work full-time,
year-round in 2014)
3 Ibid.
4 See note 1.
5 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2015, September). Consumer Expenditure Survey, Table 1800. Region of Residence: Annual expenditure means, shares, standard errors, and
coefficient of variation, 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2015, from http://www.bls.gov/cex/2014/combined/region.pdf (Calculation uses overall average “food” cost for United
States.)
6 U.S. Census Bureau. (2015). American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates 2014, Table GCT2511: Median Monthly Housing Costs for Owner-Occupied Housing Units with a
Mortgage - United States – States; and Puerto Rico. Retrieved 17 September 2015, from
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.x...
7 U.S. Census Bureau. (2015). American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates 2014, Table GCT2514: Median Monthly Housing Costs for Renter-Occupied Housing Units (Dollars): -
United States – States; and Puerto Rico. Retrieved 17 September 2015, from
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.x... (Calculation uses median gross rent for state.)
8 AAA. (2015). AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report. Retrieved 17 September 2015, from http://fuelgaugereport.aaa.com (Calculation uses average cost of regular quality gasoline on
September 17, 2015.)
9 Wang, W., Parker, K., & Taylor, P. (2013, May 29). Breadwinner Moms. Pew Research Center Publication. Retrieved 17 September 2015, from
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/05/29/breadwinner-moms/
10 Glynn, S.J. (2014). Breadwinning Mothers, Then and Now. Center for American Progress Publication. Retrieved 17 September 2015, from http://cdn.americanprogress.org/wpcontent/
uploads/2014/06/Glynn-Breadwinners-report-FINAL.pdf
11 U.S. Census Bureau. (2015). American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates 2014, Table DP02: Selected Social Characteristics in the United States. Retrieved 17 September 2015,
from http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.x... (Calculation uses family households headed by
females living in a household with family and no husband. A family household includes a householder, one or more people living in the same household who are related to the
householder, and anyone else living in the same household.)
12 U.S. Census Bureau. (2015). American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates 2014, Geographies: United States, Table DP03: Selected Economic Characteristics. Retrieved 17
September 2015, from http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.x... (To determine whether a
household falls below the poverty level, the U.S. Census Bureau considers the income of the householder, size of family, number of related children, and, for one- and twoperson
families, age of householder. The poverty threshold in 2014 was $19,073for a single householder and two children under 18.)
13 U.S. Census Bureau. (2015). American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates 2014, Table S2404: Industry by Sex and Median Earnings in the Past 12 Months for the Full-Time,
Year-Round Civilian Employed Population 16 Years and Over. Retrieved 17 September 2015, from
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.x...
14 U.S. Census Bureau. (2015). Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) Supplement: Table PINC-06: Occupation of Longest Job in 2014--People 15 Years and
Over, by Total Money Earnings in 2014, Work Experience in 2014, Race, Hispanic Origin, and Sex. Retrieved 17 September 2015, from
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/cpstables/032015/perinc/pinc06_000.htm
15 U.S. Census Bureau (2015). Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) Supplement: Table PINC-03. Educational Attainment--People 25 Years Old and Over,
by Total Money Earnings in 2014, Work Experience in 2014, Age, Race, Hispanic Origin, and Sex. Retrieved 17 September 2015, from
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/cpstables/032015/perinc/pinc03_000.htm
16 Institute for Women’s Policy Research. (2015, September). Women’s Median Earnings as a Percent of Men’s Median Earnings, 1960-2014 (Full-time, Year-round Workers) with
Projection for Pay Equity in 2059. Institute for Women’s Policy Research Publication. Retrieved 17 September 2015, from http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/equal-payprojection-
2059
17 Anzalone Liszt Grove Research and The Feldman Group, Inc., conducted a national survey among 1,000 likely 2014 voters. Interviews were conducted Jan. 24-29, 2014. The
margin of error for the sample as a whole is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent level of confidence. The margin of error for subgroups varies and is higher.
Interviews for the oversample were conducted in both English and Spanish. Retrieved 18 March 2013, from http://www.americanwomen.org/research/document/PUBLICRELEASE-
AW-FEB-5-RELEASE.pdf