Press Release
Annual Equal Pay Day Ranking, Companion Fact Sheets Shed Light on Wage Gap
Related Survey of Science and Math Occupations Shows Smaller Gaps
WASHINGTON — To commemorate Equal Pay Day, observed this year on April 20, 2010, AAUW has released a new state-by-state ranking of the pay gap and has collaborated with the National Partnership for Women & Families to produce fact sheets that illustrate the human cost of wage discrimination. A related survey of occupations in science, technology, engineering, and math shows that women are earning 80 percent to 94 percent of what men in those fields earn. The pay gap tends to be smaller in these traditionally male fields compared with the national average of 77 percent.
"The more we know about how damaging the wage gap is to working families, the more we understand that closing the wage gap is also critical to the nation's economic recovery," said AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman, CAE. "AAUW continues to inform this debate with solid research and analysis."
On March 22, AAUW released Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, a comprehensive report on the continued underrepresentation of women in these fields that includes recommendations on how to address some of the barriers affecting women and girls. AAUW's work in promoting opportunities for women and girls in science and math goes hand in hand with our work to promote pay equity and economic security for women and other underrepresented groups.
Observing Equal Pay Day reminds the nation of the inequities facing women, who must work from January 2009 through roughly April 20, 2010, to earn what their male counterparts received in 2009 alone. Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, AAUW finds that women earn, on average, 77 percent as much as men earn, and the numbers are even worse for women of color.
"Specifically, we see the Paycheck Fairness Act as one of the best legislative tools to combat wage discrimination," Hallman said. "On this Equal Pay Day, we are urging all supporters of pay equity to ask their senators to support the Paycheck Fairness Act — a much needed, critical update to the historic Equal Pay Act of 1963."
The new AAUW ranking of women's and men's earnings for the college-educated population and the workforce as a whole uses the most recent data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
The pay gap varies significantly from state to state. For the entire full-time, year-round workforce, ages 16 and older, the narrowest wage gap exists in the District of Columbia, where female workers make 88 percent of what their male counterparts earn, followed by California, at 85 percent, and then Arizona, Maryland, and New York, all at 83 percent. At the other end of the rankings are Wyoming, at 64 percent, and West Virginia and Louisiana, both at 67 percent.
For the college-educated, full-time, year-round workforce, ages 25 and older, the narrowest wage gap exists in Wyoming, illustrating once again the difference education can make in women's lives. Female workers in Wyoming make 89 percent as much as their male counterparts earn. Hawaii follows, at 83 percent, and then the District of Columbia and Montana, both at 80 percent. The states with the largest pay differences between male and female college-educated workers are Alaska, at 64 percent, followed by Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Virginia, all at 67 percent.
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The American Association of University Women (AAUW) advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research. Since 1881, AAUW has been one of the nation’s leading voices promoting education and equity for women and girls. AAUW has a nationwide network of more than 100,000 members and donors, 1,000 branches, and 600 college/university institutional partners. Since AAUW's founding 130 years ago, members have examined and taken positions on the fundamental issues of the day — educational, social, economic, and political. AAUW's commitment to educational equity is reflected in its public policy advocacy, community programs, leadership development, conventions and conferences, national partnerships, and international connections.
