Latinas lose over $1 million in wages during the course of their career and lifetime, study says

 

POSTED ON Dec 09, 2022

 

The 2022 Latina Equal Pay Day Summit was held Thursday on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. The event was hosted by Justice for Migrant Women, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement; MANA, A National Latina Organization, the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting, and Equal Pay Today.

Joining these organizations on the hill were Poderistas, The Latinx House, Women’s Institute for Secure Retirement, Esperanza United, National Partnership for Women and Families, Hispanic Federation, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, GreenLatinos, Advancing Latinas into Leadership, the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute, National Latinx Psychological Association, and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.

Speakers at the opening event included Mónica Ramírez, founder and president of Justice for Migrant Women, Senator Sherrod Brown,
and Jessica Stender of the Equal Rights Advocates/Equal Pay Today Coalition. A worker called Anita Cortez gave testimony followed by remarks from Charlotte Burrows, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

The “Organizing, Unions, and Closing the Wage Gap” seminar was moderated by Nadia Salazar Sandi, organizing director of DC Jobs with Justice. Speakers included Antonio Peña, co-director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance; Yanira Merino, president of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), and Valeria Treves, senior advisor for worker voice engagement in the U.S. Department of Labor.

The keynote speaker for “Latinas and the Trades” was Cristina Barillas, who is a United Association member, and LCLAA organizer. Speakers on the “Student Loans and Closing the Wage Gap” panel included Melody Gonzalez, executive director of The White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and the Economic Opportunity for Hispanics; and Diana Caba, assistant vice president for policy & community engagement for the Hispanic Federation.

Beyond the Paycheck speakers were Wendy Chun-Hoon, director of the Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, Latifa Lyles, special assistant to the president on gender policy; Xochitl Oseguera, vice president of MomsRising; and Mónica Ramírez, founder & president of Justice for Migrant Women.

#LatinaEqualPay, is not a celebration. It's a call to action!

Because of the wage gap, Latinas lose over $1 million in wages during the course of their career + lifetime. We deserve equal pay.

How are you taking action?#LatinasInTech #LatinaEqualPayDay #PayMe #PayUS #Pagame pic.twitter.com/k8Jy8zbze8

— Latinas in Tech (@latinas_tech) December 8, 2022

Other seminars included Wagering the Right Bet for the Best Future, Maximizing Resources for Savings, Wealth-Building, and Retirement, and Small Businesses, Big Impact: Latinas Forging the Way featuring Isabella Casillas Guzman, administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

After a social media storm, there were Capitol Hill advocacy visits and an evening reception hosted by the Association of Latino Professionals For America.

According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Latina women working full-time, year-round are paid just 57 cents
for every dollar paid to White, non-Hispanic men. In ten states, Latinas’ median annual earnings were half or less than half of White men’s. In all states, their median annual earnings were less than 70 percent of White men’s. If progress continues at the same rate, it will take until 2206—almost two centuries—for Latinas to reach equal pay with White men.

"On #LatinaEqualPay Day, let’s not just demand stronger laws & better policies, let’s demand our right to enforce them. Congress must pass the FAIR Act now" to end forced arbitration!
– @EqualRightsAdv's @jstender415 & @CELA_Lawyers Mariko Yoshiharahttps://t.co/rtiUbGpcUr

— equalpaytoday (@EqualPayToday@sfba.social) (@EqualPay2dayOrg) December 9, 2022

Today is #LatinaEqualPay Day. Latinas are paid just 54 cents, on average, for every $1 a white man is paid, resulting in lost pay amounting to over $1 million over the course of a 40-year career. Latinas, like all of us, must be paid fully and fairly NOW.https://t.co/q8EHMmU3yT pic.twitter.com/ZbFDxXOT7q

— Nat'l Urban League (@NatUrbanLeague) December 9, 2022