Delaware ranks 33rd when it comes to the gender pay gap.
A report from the National Partnership for Women and Families indicates that women are paid 19 percent less for comparable jobs than their male counterparts in the First State.
The disparity ranges between 10 percent in Washington, D.C. to 35 percent in Louisiana. The disparity amounts to about $1.4 billion a year, the group reported. The gap amounts to an average of $9,698 a year. The gap is based on the largest pay gap being ranked No. 1.
The analysis conducted by the National Partnership for Women & Families is being released in time for Equal Pay Day on Tuesday.
The analysis includes all 50 states, all 435 congressional districts in the country, and the District of Columbia. The pay gap has been reduced since 1970, but has persisted;
Pay equity has long been a controversial issue. Critics of efforts, often males, claim women often lag on pay because of career paths that also include dropping out of the labor fore or not taking on added duties, due to family responsibilities.
\Of late, some of the most conservative members of Congress and state legislators had called for a return to the days when women stayed at home.
The study reported that for dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men in Delaware, African-American women, and Latinas who work full time, year round are paid 69 cents and 56 cents, respectively.
“This analysis is a sobering reminder of the serious harm the wage gap causes women and families all across the country,” said Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership. “At a time when women’s wages are so critical to the economic well-being of families, the country is counting on lawmakers to work together to advance the fair and family friendly workplace policies that would promote equal pay. There is no time to waste.”
Every state and 98 percent of the nation’s congressional districts have a pay gap. The National Partnership’s national analysis finds that the 10 states with the largest cents-on-the-dollar wage gaps in the country – from largest to smallest – are Louisiana, Utah, Wyoming, West Virginia, North Dakota, Alabama, Idaho, Oklahoma, Montana, and Michigan. A ranking of all 50 states and the District of Columbia can be found here.
Nationally, women who are employed full-time, year-round are paid, on average, 79 cents for every dollar paid to men. The gap is larger for African American women and Latinas who are paid 60 cents and 55 cents, respectively, for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.
For Asian women in the United States, the gap is smaller but persists. On average, Asian women are paid 84 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men, although some ethnic subgroups fare much worse.
“It is unacceptable that the wage gap has persisted, punishing the country’s women and families for decades,” Ness continued. “Some state lawmakers have taken steps to address the issue by passing legislation to combat discriminatory pay practices and provide other workplace supports. It is past time for federal lawmakers to do the same. We need Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which is a common-sense proposal that has languished for much too long.”
Now before Congress, the Paycheck Fairness Act would close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act, help to break patterns of pay discrimination, and establish stronger workplace protections for women, a release from the partnership stated.
The findings for each state, along with state rankings, are available at NationalPartnership.org/Gap.
