Contact:
Lisa Goodnight, goodnightl@aauw.org
202/785-7738

WASHINGTON — To commemorate Equal Pay Day, April 28, 2009, AAUW has released a new state-by-state earnings comparison by gender that shows that the wage gap is stubbornly in place despite the overall positive effect a college degree has on women workers. Observing Equal Pay Day reminds the nation of the gross inequities facing women, who must work from January 2008 through April 2009 to earn what their male counterparts received in 2008 alone.

Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, AAUW finds that women earn 78 percent as much as men earn, and the numbers are even worse for women of color. Compared with white male workers, African American women earn about 67 cents on the dollar (African American men make 78 cents); Hispanic women make about 58 cents (Hispanic men make almost 66 cents).

The new AAUW comparison looks at women's and men's earnings in 50 states and the nation’s capital for the college-educated population and the workforce as a whole using the most recent data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2007).

The pay gap varies significantly from state to state. For the entire full-time workforce, the narrowest wage gaps exist in the District of Columbia, Vermont, and California — where female, full-time workers make 85 percent as much as their male counterparts. At the other end of the rankings are Wyoming, West Virginia, and North Dakota, where women earn 62 percent, 65 percent, and 66 percent, respectively, of what men make.

For the college-educated, year-round workforce, the narrowest wage gap exists in Vermont, where female full-time workers make 87 percent as much as their male counterparts. Hawaii follows at 83 percent, then Delaware at 80 percent. Louisiana — where female full-time workers make 65 percent of what their male counterparts earn — and West Virginia and Mississippi, both at 67 percent, are emerging as the states with the largest pay differences between male and female college-educated workers.

"Our analysis is quite disturbing, especially when you consider how more and more families are depending on a woman's paycheck as the primary source of income in these tough economic times. Consequently, the issue of pay equity takes on an added sense of urgency. This is just one of the reasons why we're urging the Senate to join the House and pass the Paycheck Fairness Act," said AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman, CAE.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would provide additional tools to deter wage discrimination by closing loopholes in the Equal Pay Act.

Over a 40-year career, women could lose between $500,000 and $1 million. In higher-paying fields, such as law, the wage gap can result in even greater lifetime losses. For all women, the disparity is further compounded by losses in retirement and Social Security income that depend on wage-based contributions. Nationwide, working families lose $200 billion of income annually to the gender wage gap.

"Women with college degrees earn considerably more than women with less education, but they earn considerably less than men with college degrees. As we know from our research for Behind the Pay Gap, these differences start right out of college. Achieving full equity for women workers will require more than individual women making educational achievements," said Catherine Hill, PhD, AAUW director of research.

To learn more about Equal Pay Day, visit http://www.aauw.org/advocacy/issue_advocacy/EqualPayDay.cfm.

###

AAUW advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. Since 1881, AAUW has been one of the nation's leading voices promoting education and equity for women and girls. AAUW has a nationwide network of nearly 100,000 members, more than 1,300 branches, and 400 college/university institutional partners. Since AAUW’s founding more than 128 years ago, members have examined and taken positions on the fundamental issues of the day — educational, social, economic, and political. AAUW's commitment to educational equity is reflected in its public policy advocacy, community programs, leadership development, conventions and conferences, national partnerships, and international connections. Visit the AAUW website at www.aauw.org.

Visit the AAUW website at www.aauw.org.