Here's how we know: Research. Today, HB0084 passed the House Committee of the Whole by a close vote on first reading! We're thrilled that you've reached out to your legislators and helped move this forward. But the vote was close. And Rep. MacGuire spoke against the bill and questioned whether a wage gap exists at all. The state's own report*, demonstrates unequivocally that women in Wyoming earn less than men for doing the same work. We're asking you to reach out to House Representatives again today and encourage them to vote yes on HB0084 on second reading tomorrow. This bill makes important steps toward closing the gender wage gap and improving the economic security of women in Wyoming. Curious what the research says? Here are some of the key stats from the report that you might want to highlight:
Wyoming’s gender wage gap varies depending on the cross-section of the workforce observed, the data source used, and the limitations placed upon the data. The wage gap narrows or widens when considering different factors, such as industry of employment, hours worked, education, tenure, having children, or growing older.
Among full-time, year-round workers in Wyoming, women earned $0.68 for every dollar paid to men in 2016, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Wyoming’s gender wage gap was second widest in the nation, ahead of only Louisiana.
Wyoming’s gender wage gap varies by county of employment.
With the data available, R&P was able to perform an analysis by occupation on 30,536 men and 56,185 women working in Wyoming between 2005 and 2017. Of the 228 occupations analyzed, 81 occupations had statistically significant wage differences, 76 in which men were paid more than women and five in which women were paid more than men.
Among full-time, year-round workers, women in the United States were paid approximately $0.80 on the dollar paid to men in 2016. However, during that same year, women in Wyoming were paid $0.68 for every $1 paid to men, ranking the state 51st in terms of gender wage gap.
A decomposition analysis identified industry of employment and the number of hours worked as the two greatest contributors to Wyoming’s gender wage gap. According to the analysis, industry made up $0.12 of the $0.28 gender wage gap, while hours worked accounted for $0.09. Overall, R&P economists were able to identify the causes for $0.15 of the gender wage gap. The remaining $0.13 could not be explained with the data available to R&P.
*House Bill 0209 (2017) provided specific language that directed R&P’s efforts in this report. The key findings address the requirements of House Bill 0209.
Contact House Representatives now and let them know that you support HB0084 and they should, too. What's good for women is good for Wyoming.
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