Georgia’s Gender Wage Gap Costs The State’s Women Billions


On average, Georgia women employed full time, year round are paid just 82 cents for every dollar paid to men – a yearly pay gap of $8,155. That means, in total, women in Georgia lose nearly $12 billion every year, which is money that could strengthen the state economy and the financial security of Georgia’s women and families, including the nearly 562,000 Georgia households headed by women. These are some of the findings of a new analysis conducted by the National Partnership for Women & Families and released for Equal Pay Day tomorrow.

The analysis spans all 50 states, all 435 congressional districts in the country, and the District of Columbia. It can be found at NationalPartnership.org/ Gap. These findings include that, for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men in Georgia, African American women, Latinas and Asian women who work full time, year round are paid 63 cents, 48 cents and 73 cents, respectively.

“This analysis is a sobering reminder of the serious harm the wage gap causes women and families all across the country,” said Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership.

According to the new analysis, if the gap between women’s and men’s wages in Georgia were eliminated, each woman who holds a full-time, year-round job in the state could afford to buy food for 1.3 more years, pay for mortgage and utilities for six more months, or pay rent for more than nine additional months. Basic necessities like these would be particularly important for the 34 percent of Georgia’s woman-headed households currently living below the poverty level.

Georgia is not the only state with a wage gap. In fact, every state and 98 percent of the country’s congressional districts have one. The National Partnership’s national analysis finds that the 10 states with the largest cents-on-the-dollar wage gaps in the country – from largest to smallest – are Louisiana, Utah, Wyoming, West Virginia, North Dakota, Alabama, Idaho, Oklahoma, Montana and Michigan.

Nationally, women who are employed full time, year round are paid, on average, 79 cents for every dollar paid to men. The gap is larger for African American women and Latinas who are paid 60 cents and 55 cents, respectively, for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. For Asian women in the United States, the gap is smaller but persists. On average, Asian women are paid 84 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men, although some ethnic subgroups fare much worse.

Currently before Congress, the Paycheck Fairness Act would close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act, help to break patterns of pay discrimination, and establish stronger workplace protections for women.

The findings for each state, along with state rankings, are available at NationalPartnership.org/ Gap.



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