Gender wage gap costs Michigan women $16B per year, report says
- Apr 11, 2016
- 2 min read
LANSING, MI -- Michigan women are missing out on $16 billion dollars in wages per year due to a gender gap, according to an analysis from advocacy group The National Partnership for Women & Families.
The group took census bureau data showing that median pay for a woman who has a full-time, year-round job was $37,419 while the median pay for a man who has a full-time, year-round job is $50,157.
The difference between those two numbers is $12,738, which The National Partnership for Women & Families attributes to a wage gap.
The data does not adjust for differences in education level, occupation or industry.
"However, there are studies that show that, when you do control for factors like education and occupation, a gap still exists, which has led researchers to conclude that discrimination and bias are still significant contributors to the gap," said Sadie Kliner, deputy communications director for The National Partnership for Women & Families.
According to the organization's analysis that gap is even larger in some demographic groups. For every dollar a white, non-hispanic man makes in Michigan:
Women are paid 75 cents on the dollar
African American women are paid 66 cents on the dollar
Latina women are paid 57 cents on the dollar
Asian woman are paid 96 cents on the dollar
These inequities add up to a $16 billion per year difference in Michigan.
"It is unacceptable that the wage gap has persisted, punishing the country's women and families for decades," said Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership. "Some state lawmakers have taken steps to address the issue by passing legislation to combat discriminatory pay practices and provide other workplace supports. It is past time for federal lawmakers to do the same. We need Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which is a common sense proposal that has languished for much too long."
A wage gap exists in 98 percent of congressional districts nationally, their analysis found.
In Michigan, Democrats have introduced legislation promoting equal pay. It's stalled, but the Progressive Women's Legislative Caucus plans an update on Tuesday.
Comments