Latina Equal Pay Day
Today is Latina Equal Pay Day in the United States. It’s the day of the year when Latina pay catches up to that of white men from the previous year. Latinas typically earn only 57 cents for every dollar earned by white men and have to work over 21 months to earn what white men earn in 12 months. Latinas also face a gap with their white female peers, earning 28% less than them on average. The pay gap starts early, and only compounds over time. Over the course of an average Latina’s career, she can experience a lost income of over one million dollars. Let that fact sink in.
Let’s unpack some of the stereotypes that often show up when people hear this data:
Stereotype: The Latina pay gap must exist because so many Latinas are domestic workers.
Fact: Latinas and all domestic workers should be paid fairly and adequately! In addition, a large amount of Latina domestic workers does not fully account for the pay gap Latinas experience.
Stereotype: Educated Latinas in high paying jobs don’t experience this.
Fact: Believe it or not, the pay gap actually widens for college educated Latinas. So education alone does not eliminate the pay gap. For example, Latina nurses earn 27% less than white male nurses on average
Stereotype: Latina women must not be asking for enough.
Fact: Latinas ask for promotions and raises at similar rates to white men, but do not get promoted at equitable rates. For every 100 men promoted to manager, only 71 Latinas are promoted. A quick peek of the tiny percentage of Latinas (2%) that hold C level and executive positions in the US helps illuminate this issue.
It’s so important to talk about this and bring more visibility to the pay gap many women of color experience. I wish I had known more about this topic early on in my career. For my first job, I didn’t negotiate the starting offer. I didn’t receive a signing bonus. I received a very small equity package that made my total compensation a lot less than what I now know peers were offered. These are all things I wish I had known more about so that I was empowered to negotiate. Instead, I had been taught to be grateful for any opportunity or offer I’d receive. You can start to see how the math works and how these small pieces compound over time if the average Latina starting point is behind their white male and white female counterparts. It’s important to educate Latinas about this topic and debunk a lot of cultural myths within our own community about being humble and grateful, and increase our ability to self advocate.
But really, it’s important to educate everyone on this topic, not just Latinas. It’d be great to change the focus from Latina women being the only ones responsible to fix this. So much emphasis is put on helping Latinas overcome imposter syndrome, build more confidence, and learn negotiation skills. I am all for these things, and fully support any work that helps a fellow Latina become a better self advocate. But the burden shouldn’t be on us to fix the system. Regardless of our confidence level, our negotiation powers, or any other factor, we still deserve to be paid equally.
The worst part is, when Latinas raise these issues, we are often faced with additional stereotypes. We get labeled as: angry, complainers, emotional, disruptive, bossy, etc. The gaslighting that many Latinas face when simply trying to state the facts and advocate for fairness is awful. It often turns into feedback we get in our performance reviews, and yet another “factor” used as the reason we are getting paid and promoted less. Why is white men’s anger and directness normalized and often rewarded, while Latina, Black, and other women of color are penalized for the same things? This needs to change.
Corporations should be investing in systemic change, not just skill building programs for Latinas. Is your company auditing for potential pay gaps in all levels and genders and demographic groups? What about promotion rates? It’s time to take a look at the gaps we know exist, and put the work in to remove the bias throughout the system ASAP. This means that organizations should have a proactive approach to eliminate bias from the beginning of the hiring process, and it needs to follow through once someone is hired. There needs to be accountability levers in place for peers, managers, and leaders to stop perpetuating the problem. Paying Latinas fairly is not “the right thing to do”, “good for business” or some nice to have diversity program, it’s actually illegal if you aren’t paying them equitably. It’d be great to see this issue get the same type of investment, attention, and urgency that other “code red” business areas often get.
So the next time this topic comes up, be aware of your first reaction. And the next time you consider yourself an “ally” think about how can you start to turn that word into more of a verb. The bar is honestly so low for work that needs to be done. How about stop asking Latinas for free or cheaper labor? And the next time you hear a Latina raise a concern over inequity, believe us.
