The Casper Star-Tribune kicked off our week in fine style using his 307 Politics Newsletter to highlight Equal Pay Day and the gender wage gap. Worth a read: Equal Pay Day a reminder of 2019 misfires.
According to Nick Reynolds, "Despite the moniker of being the 'Equality State,' Wyoming – with one of the largest gender wage gaps in the nation — still lacks pay parity between its men and women."
Reynolds goes on to point out that the Liberty Group issued a statement in February effectively contradicting the DWS R&P Wage Disparity Report and its findings. They claimed, incorrectly, that the report found no wage disparity when adjusting for hours, education, etc. And, yet, this specific quote seems to undermine their own statement: "Due to the high wages paid in the mineral sector, Wyoming is a great state to enable women to choose to work at home raising their families." What they're really saying is, hey, we like a certain kind of heteronormativity that includes women at home raising families. We're all for that - if it is a choice - but as often as not, it is not a choice. And, more often than not, the gender pay gap relegates Wyoming women to a lack of financial and professional independence.
But Reynolds maintains his focus on what closing the gender wage gap means for Wyoming and highlights some of the reasons why it could be a game changer for economic development.
“The wage gap is important to the Women’s Foundation because it measures the potential that women could be earning if they were making the same wages as men,” said Bekah Smith, director of the Wyoming Women’s Foundation. “If this potential were realized, women and families would see economic gains. When families prosper, that economic productivity goes back into their communities and Wyoming benefits.”
“The gender wage gap is a pressing economic security issue for women in Wyoming and offers economic development opportunities for everyone in our state,” said Jen Simon, the vice chair of the governor’s council on women’s issues and the founder of the Wyoming Women’s Action Network.
Again, check out the full article here. And come on down to Cheyenne for the Equal Pay Day Proclamation signing on Monday, June 17, 2019 @ 11:00am in the Kendrick Gallery.
Comments