10 Surprising Pay Inequities Workers Face

Are You Not Getting Paid Enough?

The gender pay gap is consistently in the news - but there are other individuals and groups still struggling to achieve pay equity, including racial minority groups or the LGBTQ+ community.

The differential between pay awarded to white males versus other workers is getting smaller in some instances, but the gap between wages paid to Caucasian men and both Black men and women has actually worsened in the past two decades

Continue reading to learn why these inequities exist, and ways that employers, human resource professionals, and advocates are trying to eliminate the differences via policy reform, litigation, and other tools.

Women still earn vastly less than men

Studies show women are still being compensated 20% or more less than men with similar education, experience, and qualifications.

Mothers earn less than women without children

Women with children work more than five months longer than male colleagues to earn as much. This is called the “motherhood penalty.”

Age-based discrimination  still exists

Companies that are desperate to cut costs, especially during economic downturns, increasingly turn to younger, less-experienced workers who will work for lower wages.

The pay gap between Black and white workers is getting larger

Black workers still earn less than three-quarters of the pay awarded to their white colleagues—71 cents on the dollar for Black males, and 64 cents on the dollar for Black females.

Education doesn’t improve pay for many Native American workers

Native American women are especially impacted—in some communities, they earn less than half the pay garnered by their white male peers.

How queer individuals face compensation inequities

Though queer men traditionally have taken home less pay than their heterosexual male peers, their income still exceeds all women—including queer women, who were reported to earn more than straight women

10 Surprising Pay Inequities Workers Face

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