Native Women’s Equal Pay Day 2020
| Today is Native Women’s Equal Pay Day in the United States, which marks how far into 2020 the average Native woman must work to earn what a white man did in 2019. Native women earned just 60 cents on the dollar last year. While the exact amount varies, Native women are paid less no matter their education level, in rural areas and in cities, and at each stage of their lives. While the pay gap is persistent across the country, it varies across geographic regions. In California, Native women earn only 50 cents per every dollar a white man makes, making it the second worst state for Native women’s pay equity. In our state, a Native woman misses out on almost $1.5 million over the course of her 40-year career. This economic disadvantage can have far-reaching consequences, impacting access to housing, education, health care, and other critical resources. Native women are historically under-studied as a group. A lack of data collection has made it difficult to fully understand the impacts of discrimination, but the oppression of Native communities has long-lasting effects. Compounding the wage and benefit injustice, Native women face a devastatingly high level of violence: more than half have experienced both sexual and physical violence, and Native women are ten times more likely than the national average to be murdered. This violence and other forms of discrimination can limit a Native woman’s ability to participate fully in the workforce, contributing to the large gender wage gap. Every woman deserves to be paid fairly. Join CWLC in demanding #NativeWomensEqualPay by participating in a social media storm today at 11:00am PST to #DemandMore #EquityforNativeWomen |