NEWS
Equal Pay Day Marks No Change to Wyoming Gender Wage Gap
CHEYENNE - Today marks the 13th Annual Equal Pay Day. Equal Pay Day was originated by the National Committee on Pay Equity in 1996 to bring awareness to the gap between men's and women's wages. In Wyoming, women earn 60 cents for every dollars earned by men.
First Lady Nancy Freudenthal said, "Equal Pay Day is an opportunity for Wyoming to focus on the pay inequality that women face everyday. By bringing awareness to the important issue, we continue to work toward eliminating the gap all together."
According to the Gender Wage Gap Working Group, a taskforce brought together by the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, Wyoming's gender wage gap costs the state approximately $65 million a year in reduced productivity, high labor turnover resulting in higher job training costs, reduced opportunities for industrial/business recruitment and reduced job creation potential. In addition, the self-sufficiency of women and the quality of life that they and their families might enjoy are directly impacted by the gender wage gap.
Joan Evans, Director of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, said, "Wyoming continues to have the largest wage gap in the nation. While women in Wyoming earn 60 cents for every dollar men earn, nationally, that rate is 77 cents to every dollar."
Evans added, the wage gap forces many women to work multiple jobs causing them to pay high child care costs. "Addressing the pay gap most obviously impacts the income of women and therefore, that of their families. However, the gender wage gap impacts the broader community, businesses and Wyoming's economy."
There are benefits for the business community to address gender pay issues which include an ability to attract and retain qualified employees, increase productivity, reduce healthcare costs and increase their return on investment, Evans added.
The Gender Wage Gap Working Group has brought forward several recommendations to address Wyoming's Gender Wage Gap. Those include women entering careers that will enable them to become self-sufficient, increasing wages of traditionally female held positions, creating more high paying jobs for Wyoming's educated women, increasing the number of women in full-time positions and improving access to child care which enables more women to enter and stay in the workforce.
Evans said, "The gender wage gap goes beyond equal pay for equal work. The Department wants women to know that they can enter occupations that have been traditionally held by men so that they too can receive a high wage."
For more information on the Gender Wage Gap or on the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, please visit wyomingworkforce.org or call 877-WORK-WYO.
