In the Lead
Young Women in the “She-cession”: Centering the Experience of Young Women of Color
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated deep-seated inequalities in the society, with communities of color and low-wage workers who are disproportionately women, racial minorities, and young workers bearing the brunt of the pandemic’s health and economic impact. Since the beginning of the pandemic, scholars and activists have called attention to the “intersectional vulnerabilities” laid bare by the pandemic. An intersectional perspective highlights how various structural inequalities interconnect and shape the unique experiences of groups situated differently on the “matrix of domination.” [...]
Equal Pay Day 2021: The Results of a COVID-Impacted Economy
For many women, this Equal Pay Day feels uniquely urgent. While it looks like the wage gap is shrinking – that’s only because women in low wage jobs have been pushed out of the work force during the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic downturn in its wake. A new analysis from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), along with highlights from a new national IWPR survey, shows that women want and need the government to do more to close [...]
Progress on Closing the Gender and Race Wage Gap is Too Slow: Inequality Between and Within Occupations
Equal Pay Day, March 24th of this year, marks how many extra months women have to work to catch up with men’s earnings in the last calendar year. Full-time women workers made just 82 cents on the dollar compared to men at the median. The gap in annual earnings is even larger for Latinas who made just 55 cents, and Black women who made just 63 cents per dollar earned at the median for White non-Hispanic men. At the current [...]
Asian American and Pacific Islander Equal Pay Day Reveals Racial Challenges Despite Model Minority Stereotype
Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has hit AAPI women particularly hard as businesses continue to close and caregiving responsibilities increase. While AAPI women consistently earn more than any other group of women in the United States, both prior to the pandemic and now, the gender wage gap persists, with AAPI women earning 84.6 percent of White men’s earnings, and only 73.3 percent of AAPI men’s earnings. For many AAPI women, the wage gap perpetuates existing inequalities, and combined [...]
New Report Lifts Up Black, Latina, and Afro-Latina Women’s Voices in Construction Trades
March 7th-13th is Women in Construction Week. For women who work in the union construction trades, it’s more than just a job. It also means high wages and the opportunity to earn while learning as an apprentice. It means healthcare, the ability to provide for one’s family, and the chance to own a home. It means pride and satisfaction in a challenging but rewarding career. A new brief published by Chicago Women in the Trades’ Center for Gender Equity in [...]
Weekly News Roundup – March 1 to 5, 2021
Activism on the Frontlines (03/04/21) When it comes to Myanmar’s protests, women have been in the frontlines. Security forces have killed at least thirty people nationwide in the single bloodiest day since the February 1 coup according to the United Nations, including 18-year-old Ma Kyal Sin. Kyal Sin, like many other women at the forefront of the Myanmar’s protest movement, gathered for marches in response to when the generals ousted Aung San Suu Kyi, a civilian leader, and reimposed a [...]