On July 27, 2023 STSI will again support Black Women’s Equal Pay.
Join STSI on Thursday 7/27/23 , as we participate in a tweet/social media storm using the hashtag #BlackWomenEqualPayDay from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. to raise awareness.
Sister to Sister International, a Yonkers-based nonprofit which is dedicated to the empowerment of Black women and girls in Westchester and Rockland counties.
Community partners including the Westchester Women's Agenda, Jack and Jill of America Inc's Rockland Orange Chapter, PowerHer NY, American Association of University Women, Westchester County Youth Bureau, Westchester County Office for Women and Westchester Children's Association will be participating in the effort, said Cheryl Brannan, founder of the nonprofit.
“It's very, very fundamental and it's tremendously impactful on the life of a Black woman. It influences what kind of disposable income she has, where she may be able to live, her access to education and educational opportunities perhaps for her children,” said Brannan. “It clearly impacts the quality of life for Black women.”
Black women in the United States who work full time, year-round are typically paid just .67 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men — and that number has not budged in over a quarter century. .
For women overall, the wage gap stands at .83 cents for every dollar paid to men.
July 27, 2023 is Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, which marks how far into the year Black women working full time need to work to earn what their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts earned last year.
This year the number has widened to include all women including part time workers. This wage gap costs Black women $22,692 a year, according to a new analysis by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC). Over a 40-year-career, the wage gap translates to nearly $1M.
Further research by the NWLC indicate that Black women face a wage gap in each of the ten occupations where they are most likely to work, many of which are low paid. Despite Black women’s educational gains, continued structural barriers to degree attainment, coupled with sexism, racism, and lack of support for caregiving responsibilities lead to some Black women experiencing occupational segregation, often in low-paid jobs. Black women accounted for 6.0% of the workforce yet 8.9% of the low-paid workforce in the U.S. in 2021. Nearly two in five Black women (39.8%) are employed in one of ten occupations; in all ten of the occupations, Black women working full time, year-round are paid less than white, non-Hispanic men working full time, year round.
“We can’t wait to close the wage gap for Black women”
Racism, sexism, and structural inequalities rob Black women of tens of thousands of dollars a year. We need public investments and public policies that allow Black women to succeed and thrive. It’s time to ensure Black women are paid what they are owed, said Jasmine Tucker, director of research for NWLC.
An area of focus for Sister to Sister International has been to encourage Black girls to pursue science, technology, engineering, and medicine (STEM), which have the least wage disparities. The nonprofit organizes annual summer STEM camps for Black and girls of color.
“When they pursue those fields, that they're more likely to have less of a pay disparity,” said Brannan. “And you get paid almost twice as much in STEM fields than you do in a non-STEM field.”
The non-profit has conducted a series of salary negotiation trainings and has an online chat group to discuss salary negotiations and other work-related issues.
“We want to make sure women are comfortable negotiating their salaries. When you go into the workforce, you need to understand that these pay inequities exist,” she said. “This is what you're up against, and you need to learn strategies to help promote yourself, to look for mentors, to hold your place of work accountable.”
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