To Weather the Storm, We Need Equal Pay for ALL Women

By Anna Valencia, Chicago City Clerk; Barb Yong, Chair of the Equal Pay Day Chicago Coalition; Cherita Ellens, CEO, Women Employed; Linda Xóchitl Tortolero, President & CEO, Mujeres Latinas en Acción; Dorri McWhorter, CEO, YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago; Felicia Davis, President and CEO, Chicago Foundation for Women

Before COVID-19, 40% of Americans reported they would struggle to cover an unexpected $400 expense, according to a Federal Reserve study. Imagine how that number will change in the coming weeks. And imagine, with the well-documented gender pay-gap, how much harder it will be for women, two-thirds of whom are the primary or co-breadwinner in their household.

At this unprecedented moment, the COVID-19 epidemic is laying bare the gaping holes in our economic and social safety net. We know that a disproportionate number of the workers on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis are women, and women of color — they are the healthcare workers, retail clerks, hotel housekeepers, caregivers, and restaurant servers. Many have been laid off as their places of employment have shuttered. Many more that haven’t, must be face to face with the public to do their jobs, putting themselves and their families at risk. They cannot “socially distance” and work from home. And they can’t afford to take unpaid time off.

These women, who often live paycheck to paycheck, have little or no financial cushion. The pay-gap means their families have even fewer resources in an emergency like the one we’re in now. In this moment, women — and especially black and brown women — are particularly vulnerable.

Today is Equal Pay Day, a day that highlights the continuing inequality and economic vulnerability of women in America. March 31st marks how far into 2020 the ‘average’ woman must work for her wages to catch up to what the ‘average’ man earned in 2019.

But averages don’t tell the whole story. The compounding effects of racial and gender bias mean that many black and brown women experience much wider wage gaps. While on average, women earn 82 cents for every dollar men earn, Black women make 62 cents. Native women make 57 cents. Latinas make just 54 cents for every dollar paid to white men. And while on average Asian American and Pacific Islander women have the smallest pay gap, making about 90 cents for every dollar paid to white men, here too the “averages” deceive — women in some Asian and Pacific Islander subgroups make as little as 50 cents per dollar.

In recent years, we’ve made notable strides towards pay equity. Last year, Illinois passed a No Salary History law, preventing employers from asking job candidates for their current or past wages — a practice that perpetuates the systemic wage gap. Chicago’s Status of Women and Girls Working Group, led by the City Clerk’s office, has made a commitment to lifting up all women and girls in our city and driving policies to advance gender equity.

In January, the Equal Pay Day Chicago coalition decided it was time to go deeper and center the voices of so many of our sisters whose gaps are wider, and whose vulnerability is greater. While in past years, we’ve gathered on Equal Pay Day — which would have been today — we committed to making a shift this year to acknowledge that so many of us are still months away from pay parity with men.

Therefore, as a show of solidarity with all of our sisters, we will gather on the last equal pay day observed in 2020 — Latina Equal Pay Day on October 29. In the midst of the COVID19 crisis, ensuring that the pay disparities facing women of color are not ignored is more critical than ever. Our rallying cry “Not without our sisters” has never been truer than now.

Now is the right time for this change, and with so many women of color leading in Chicago and in Illinois — Mayor, City Treasurer, City Clerk, Cook County Board President, Cook County Clerk, Lieutenant Governor, State Comptroller and U.S. Senator — we are uniquely poised for this shift in the conversation.

Join us in leading that change. Visit equalpaydaychi.xyz to learn more about the Equal Pay Day Chicago coalition, and our rally on October 29th at the Thompson Center. We will see you there. Wear red.