And that gap is even wider for women of color. Compared to white, non-Hispanic men, Black or African-American women are paid about 68 cents on the dollar, while Hispanic and Latina women are paid only 63 cents on the dollar, says the New York State Department of Labor (DOL) study on the state's gender wage gap.
The announcement aligns with Equal Pay Day, March 14, which denotes how far into the year women must work to be paid what men were paid the previous year.
"This report offers an important look into New York's ongoing fight for equal pay, and provides a road map for helping our state close the gender wage gap once and for all," Governor Kathy Hochul said.
"Far too many women in the workforce are still being denied equal pay for equal work, and as New York's first woman governor, I am determined to make things right. My administration is fully committed to closing the gender wage gap, especially for the single mothers and women of color who are disproportionately affected, because better working conditions for women means a stronger, fairer economy for all," she added.
This new report revisits the findings from DOL's 2018 study on the issue, while also examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the key factors that traditionally are associated with the gender pay gap, and makes several policy recommendations aimed at addressing the issue.
Effort to Close Wage Gap
In an effort to close, or at least narrow the wage gap, the DOL will also be undertaking several initiatives to support the goal of pay equity:
—Monitoring the state's gender wage gap and posting annual updates on the department's newly created Gender Pay Gap online hub;
—Educating employers about new pay transparency laws and ensuring adequate enforcement;
—Raising awareness about publicly available data on job titles and pay;
—Developing and launching a statewide paternity leave awareness campaign;
—Prioritizing connecting women to job training opportunities in the green economy as part of the proposed Office of Just Energy Transition; and
—Developing additional resources for businesses.
More Report Findings
The report also finds that the pivot to remote learning and pandemic-driven closures of childcare facilities elevated the severe impact of childcare access, which has long been a major problem for working women.
With mothers bearing the brunt of care responsibilities, labor force participation for women in New York dropped from 59.3 percent to 58.9 percent from 2019 to 2021, while the unemployment rate nearly doubled from 4.2 percent to 8.2 percent, according to the report. In 2021, over 405,000 women were unemployed, a significant increase from 207,000 in 2019. The report notes that even temporary exit from the workforce can have significant long-term financial implications.
Remote work helped some women and families juggle childcare, but not all. Almost two-thirds of the state's frontline essential workforce was made up of women — primarily women of color, for whom remote work was not an option, the report says.
"In recent years, we have made significant progress addressing pay inequities for women in New York State, despite the pandemic disproportionately affecting women, particularly single mothers and minorities," said state Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon. Governor Hochul continues to be a champion on this issue, and I'm thankful for her partnership to ensure progress in eliminating the gender wage gap."
The report includes several policy recommendations to build upon the state's push towards greater pay equity. Some of these key recommendations include:
—Increasing pay for low-wage workers, including through proposals like indexing New York's minimum wage to inflation;
—Expanding paid parental leave to union-represented state workforce;
—Raising awareness about the New York State Equal Rights Amendment, which would add new anti-discrimination protections to the New York State Constitution;
—Improving statewide data collection to better capture employment trends and increase transparency; and
—Modernizing the Department of Civil Service testing model by offering all state exams online and on-demand.
New York State has made many strides to advance pay equity in recent years, including enacting a Salary History Ban, which prohibits all employers from asking prospective or current employees about their salary history and compensation. NYSDOL also has free resources to help all job seekers, including a Salary Negotiation Guide to help New Yorkers make the most of their earning power.
But more work needs to be done to close the gender wage gap, Hochul and other state officials said.
"Women's rights are human rights," said state Department of Human Rights Commissioner Maria Imperial. "We are fortunate to live in a state that is not only the cradle of the women's rights movement, but also has been at the forefront in the fight for equality and justice for all. The Division of Human Rights will use every tool at its disposal to uncover discrimination against women in the workplace and hold employers accountable."
(c)2023 Staten Island Advance, N.Y. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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