Pay Equity
Questions & Answers on Pay Equity
Q: What is pay equity?
A: Pay equity is a means of eliminating sex and race discrimination in the wage-setting system. Many women and people of color are still segregated into a small number of jobs such as clerical, service workers, nurses and teachers. These jobs have historically been undervalued and continue to be underpaid to a large extent because of the gender and race of the people who hold them. Pay equity means that the criteria employers use to set wages must be sex- and race-neutral.
Q: How large is the wage gap?
A: 2008 Median Annual Earnings
of Year-Round, Full-Time Workers
All Men All Women
$46,367 100% $35,745 77%
In 2008, the earnings for African American women were $31,489, 67.9 percent of men's earnings (a drop from 68.7 percent in 2007), and Latinas' earnings were $26,846, 58 percent of men's earnings (a drop from 59 percent in 2007). Asian American women's earnings in 2008 were $42,215 -- 91 percent of men's earnings, an increase from 89.5 percent in 2007.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2009 Annual Social and Economic Supplement, Series PINC-05
Information from the National Committee on Pay Equity www.pay-equity.org/
Resources: New Mexico
To report a Pay Equity violation call the New Mexico Equal Employment Opportunity Commission at (505) 248-5201 or visit the national webpagehttp://www.eeoc.gov/
New Mexico Business and Professional Womenhttp://www.highfiber.com/~bpwnm/BPWfacts.htm
WESST Corp (Women's Economic Self-Sufficiency Team) is a non-profit business assistance organization whose mission is to facilitate the startup and growth of small business throughout the state of New Mexico. For more information or to register for classes on Starting Your Business, Effective Strategies for Business Owners, and Business Development Classes, call (505) 241-4753.
Resources: National
National Committee on Pay Equity http://www.pay-equity.org/
National Women’s Law Center http://www.nwlc.org/
Institue for Women's Policy Research http://www.iwpr.org/
Links are for information only. The WRC does not constitute
endorsement or accuracy of the information.
Updated May 17, 2011
