There's so much negative trash being written in this country's media about African American women that it allows many Americans, Black and White, to look down their noses at my sisters of color. You've all heard the hype about the "angry Black woman" who's undesirable to most men. You've been told that Black women are lazy, promiscuous, and failures as parents. All in all, there's some efforts afoot to paint all of society's ills on the backs of African American women. Unfortunately, the propaganda has taken root in the psyche of some Black women, lowered their self esteem and wounded them deep within their souls. In view of all of this, I'm not sure whether to be violently mad or soulfully sad about this month's analysis on African American Women and the Wage Gap from the The National Partnership for Women and Families.
The analysis explores the rampant wage disparities that persist for African American women, with devastating consequences for the women and their families and for the society at large. Bottom line...on average women in the United States are paid just 77 cents for every dollar paid to men, but Black women are paid just 70 cents for every dollar to men and just 64 cents to white, non-Hispanic men. In the 20 states with the largest number of African American women working full time, year round, pay for Black women ranges from 55 cents to 87 cents for every dollar paid to men in those states. Texas and New York top the list of states with the largest population of African American women working full time year round. In Texas, these women are paid 78 cents for every dollar paid to men or $9,669 less each year. In New York, African American women are paid 79 cents for every dollar paid to men in New York , amounting to $10,801 less each year.
Among these states, African American women in Louisiana and Mississippi suffer from the largest wage gap, bring home just 55 cents and 61 cents, respectively, for every dollar paid to the men in their states. California and Maryland have the smallest cents-on-the-dollar wage gaps, but African American women in those states still face substantial disparities of $6,342 and $11,092 less each year, respectively.
More than four million family households in the United States are headed by African American women and nearly 40 percent of these households live below the poverty level. Of those households with a child under five years of age, the percentage increases to more than 50 percent. In case you missed it, this means that half of households headed by African American Women with young children live in poverty. Eliminating the wage gap would provide much-needed income to African American women, whose salaries are critically important for their families.
The median salary for African American women in the United States is $33,501, compared to a median salary of $48,202 for all men, or a difference of $14,701 each year. What does the wage gap mean for African American women? If the wage gap were eliminated, these women would have enough money for approximately:
- More than two years' worth of food;
- Almost 10 months' worth of mortgage and utilities payments;
- More than 16 months of rent;
- More than three years worth of family health insurance premiums; or
- 4,549 additional gallons of gas.
The economic security of African American women and all working women and their families is put at risk when women are paid less than men. The Paycheck Fairness Act would strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and help women fight wage discrimination. The National Partnership also conducted a matching analysis on the Latina Wage Gap.
“Women of color are hard hit by a kind of perfect – and perfectly devastating – storm caused by discrimination, a struggling economy and the country’s failure to adopt family friendly workplace policies,” said Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families. “These new data show that the wage gap is costing women of color thousands of dollars in critical income each year that could be spent on food, rent, health care and on meeting other fundamental needs for their families. It’s an unacceptable situation that should be a resounding wake-up call for lawmakers who have the power to do something about it.”
Just a few days ago, President Obama chose to include these words in his second inaugural address:
“Our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts.”.
We must all work together to mandate Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. The U.S. House of Representatives passed it in 2009, and it came two votes short of moving forward in the Senate in 2010. Its introduction in the 113th Congress is expected early this year. “Make no mistake about it, lawmakers have the power to help close this gap and promote economic security for women and families in their districts,” says Debra Ness.
“Lawmakers
who are serious about rebuilding our economy and valuing families will work to
address discrimination and the punishing wag gap that results. Hardworking
women deserve to be paid fairly no matter where they live or their race. By
overwhelming majorities, Americans know this and support federal action. It’s
time for Congress to act.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment