They are at a salary disadvantage for the same occupation even having the same skills
Nearly 11 more months had to work for Latin women in 2018, and so far this year to earn the same as their counterparts, non-Hispanic white men in that same period of time.
A report by the Economic Policy Institute revealed a day before the celebration of the Fair Payment Day for Latinas, found that a Latina would have to work for 57 years to earn what a non-Hispanic white man would earn in 30 years.
Equitable Payment Day represents the number of days in a year that a woman would have to work to be at the level of what a man earned a previous year.
Elise Gould of the Economic Policy Institute says that unfortunately, Hispanic women are subject to a double wage gap, an ethnic and gender inequality in their salary that has grown.
November 20 has been declared as the Equitable Payment Day for Latinas based on Hispanic women receiving 53 cents for every dollar earned by a non-Hispanic white man, using the Current Population Survey of March 2017 for workers who earn full-time annual wages, and in another survey for those who work for hours .
The wage gap is shortened, but not dramatically when education, years of experience, and location are taken into account. In this case, Latina workers earn 66 cents for every dollar earned by non-Latino white men.
Nevertheless, at any level of education, white non-Hispanic men earn more than Hispanic womens. Even more education, the salary increases, but for men. Even Hispanics with advanced academic degrees earn less than their white counterparts who only have a university degree.
Thus we see that white non-Hispanic men with a university degree earn $ 6.81 more than Latinas with an advanced degree. Regardless of their educational level, Latinas earn less than their counterparts, white men.
According to the report, many of the differences are based on occupational segregation, which means that Latino workers tend to be placed in low-income professions. But even in the ten most common occupations for Latinas, white men, on average, earn more than them.
Gould states that an increase of $ 15 to the federal minimum wage by 2025 would affect one in three Latino workers.
“It is clear that there is a lot of work to be done to improve the standard of living of Latinas and their families. More education and access to a better quality of education will certainly help to improve opportunities to progress and get better paid jobs, ”he says.
He stressed that it is important to strengthen protections in the workplace as an equitable salary for the same job responsibilities, so that women with the same education, the same occupation and the same qualifications are not paid less or prevented from moving towards better paid positions.
Reactions
"That Latinas only earn 54% of what white men get, it has life-changing consequences in communities like the ones I represent and throughout the United States," says Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nury Martínez.
“When it takes almost two years to earn what a white man in a year, you not only work for less, but more time and harder. Struggles to pay bills and rent. That means that some Latinas have to spend more time taking care of other people's children and less taking care of their own, ”he emphasizes.
And remarks that the Latinas They deserve equal pay and it is time for employers to recognize him. "Stop!".
Hellen Torres, director of the Hispanic Organization for Political Equality (HOPE), says that paying Latinas the same amount as others, is the smartest thing to do.
"The economic well-being of Latinas is intrinsically tied to that of our state and the entire country," he emphasizes.
And he notes that it is crucial to ensure the economic parity of Latinas for the economic future of California and the United States.
“Latinas are the main providers of their homes, but they would have to work 33 more years to earn the same as non-Hispanic white men in 40 years,” he notes.
Note that over time, this gap directly contributes to women's poverty and impacts social security payments, pensions and other sources of income from retirement, perpetuating a disparity in wealth that generates more inequality in our communities.
