Lean in to this conversation about Latina Equal Pay Day because you’re about to be outraged sis (!) to find that our Latina sisters make only 53 cents for every dollar a white man earns and Latinas make the LEAST of any major demographic group.
White women make 79 cents to a white man’s dollar. Black women make 63 cents on average to a white man’s dollar. Latina women must work 305 extra days into the next calendar year just to earn what the average white man earns in a year. Let me spell it out for you if you’re bad at math like me: Latinas still won’t close that gap until nearly the end of the calendar year.
You heard her 💜 https://t.co/4kOvZiHWJC
— NOV. 6 VOTE, xo TITA! (@titacarra_) November 3, 2018
“Today [Nov. 1] is Latina Equal Pay Day. That means Latinas had to work all of 2017 and until this day in 2018 to catch up with what white men earned in 2017 alone. No matter what their job, where they live, or how much education or experience they have, Latinas are still paid less than white men…,” reports LeanIn.
We’re technically going backwards when it comes to Latinas being paid equally because by on 2017’s Latina Equal Pay Day it was reported that Latina’s made 54 cents; it dropped to 53 cents this 2018 year. (I’m triggered!)
So, what can you do? Educate yourselves and others on what Latina Equal Pay Day to start. Nearly 1 in 3 Americans are unaware of the pay gap between Latinas and white men. Of overall U.S. population, 42% of Americans are unaware of the pay gap between Latinas and white women and that includes HIRING managers. The kicker? “Over two-thirds of Americans think that bias against immigrants contributes to the pay gap between Latinas and white men,” reports LeanIn.
More than half of Latinas are the primary breadwinners in their households, which means this gap hurts families and the economy, thus contributing to a cycle of poverty.
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I’m sorry, but I’m about to send you to the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital’s emergency room with the rest of these facts (I literally can’t; I’m foaming at the mouth):
- A Latina may lose up to $1 million over the course of her working lifetime.
- Closing the wage gap would add more than $26,000 to the annual salary of Latinas.
- This $26,000 would cover the full cost of fees and tuition at a two-year community college; 18 additional months of mortgage and utilities payments; 3 additional years of child care should she need it; and 3.7 years of groceries so she can eat.
- Latinas have 215 plus years until the gap is fully closed.
- Latinas average a weekly earning of $621, compared to $815 million for white women.
- Latina are paid less than their white counterparts in nearly every occupation, regardless of whether the occupation is traditionally held by men or women.
- Latinas are paid less at every level of education, which means that Latinas with advanced degrees typically earn $32.50 an hour where white men with 4-year degrees earn approximately $39.04 an hour.
Second thing you can do to help with Latina Equal Pay Day is to get vocal with your favorite news site to cover more Latinx issue, raise concern with your employer, stand up and band together. You want to shout that you’re woke at the top of your lungs? Dig deeper than the now go-to outrage stories now being utilized by mainstream media to only tell one side of the struggle. Also, fill your social media feeds with We Are Unidos, Phenomenal Woman, and We All Grow Latina to stay up-to-date. School somebody!
Photo Credit: Kiefer Jones
