The gender pay gap in NYC is a huge issue! 

This is a HUGE problem because there is a persistent gap between the amount of money men make vs women. The cause of this significant issue includes systemic gender discrimination, disproportionate caretaking responsibilities, and occupational segregation across the NYC workforce. (This is an idea discussed throughout AmericanProgress.org. ) While this has most likely been an issue since women entered the workforce (which is CRAZY) “it emerged as a political issue in the U.S. in the 1860s under the rallying cry of "Equal Pay for Equal Work." (Investopedia.org). Along with this, according to the AmericanProgress.org, “if the gender wage gap continues to shrink at the rate it has between the passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963 and 2021, median full-time, year-round working women will not achieve pay parity with men until 2056—and all women, regardless of hours or weeks worked, will not achieve parity until 2052.* This will take even longer for working women of color.” This directly highlights not only  how intense the gender pay gap is currently but how severe it will continue to become if we don't do anything about it!

This issue impacts all women in the workforce and mothers. This issue especially effects minority groups such as black, hispanic, asian, and latina women. Some numbers behind this include the fact that “Hispanic women in New York State suffered the largest pay gap, earning just 60.6 cents for every dollar earned by White, non-Hispanic men in 2023. Black women also experienced wide pay gaps during 2023, earning just 67.7 cents for every dollar earned by White men. White women earned 84.8 cents for every dollar of their male counterparts, while Asian women were closer to parity with White men, earning 89.9 cents.” (Reports.DOL.ny.GOV) This emphasizes just how drastic the differences are not only between men and women but between women of differences of backgrounds, races and ethnicities. More specific numbers can be found in Council.NYC.gov “female employees earn $0.835 for every $1 that male employees make. In other words, there is a $0.165 per dollar gender pay gap in NYC's municipal workforce.” Although this may not seem like an extremely dramatic difference, just the fact that there is a difference is absolutely absurd!

WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING!

Although the country needs overall systemic changes, there are many actions that we can take in our everyday lives to strongly push for this much needed change! Some include (but aren't limited to).....

1. Ask for raises and/or consider walking away (if possible) from inequitable employers.
2. Support small women-owned businesses  locally-owned businesses typically employ members of the community and reinvest in their community!
3. Advocate for pay tranceparency and/or  inclusive hiring partnerships at all levels. This can be made possible through various forms of activism such as petitions (like this one), rally, marches, music, art, and boycotts.
4. Advocate for raising minimum wage.
5. Contact your Congress members to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would help mitigate sex-based pay discrimination and promote greater transparency and reporting of disparities in wages.
6.  Raise awareness of Equal Pay Days (Which "symbolizes how many extra days into the new year women have to work to earn what men earned the prior year." According to censusGOV) and continue to learn about the racial and gender wage gap.
   
   
   
7. If you want to close the gender pay gap (NYC), I encourage you to sign this petition to make a difference!