There is no one who is more affected by inflation and its legacy, the high price of goods and services, than a Latina woman. The rise in costs is much more dramatic for women in this community because they are among those who earn the least for their work. The gap that separates what they earn for their work compared to non-Latino white men is so large that until yesterday, October 3, they had not yet earned the same as them in 2023. That is, it takes them a little more than 21 months get on par with those who earn the most. This is a loss of money that, on average, in a 40-year working life can total $1.3 million, according to the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC).
In 2023, and according to the most recent data, Latinas who work full time earn 58 cents for every dollar a non-Latino white man earns for their work. In part-time contracts or those that are temporary, the amount drops to 51 cents per dollar. A loss of 42 cents ends up adding up month to month and year to year. The NWLC estimates that annual losses could reach $32,070 on average. Women in this community “are at a racial, ethnic, and gender crossroads,” the study says.
All women, regardless of their racial or ethnic group, face this inequality. Women earn 83% less than men when they have a full-time contract and 75% if it is temporary or part-time. It takes them on average 14 and a half months to reach the salary that non-Latino whites earn in 12.
In 2023 the overall difference for Latinas was somewhat larger: 51 cents on every dollar. At the current level of gap reduction, parity will not be reached until the year 2197, according to calculations by the American Association of University Women (AAUW).
For some Latinas it will take even longer. The gap is greater for Guatemalans, Hondurans and Salvadorans who earn 48 cents, 47 and 51 respectively against the white man’s dollar. NWLC calculations indicate that a Guatemalan woman with a typical salary of $33,482 stops earning $35,750 annually due to the wage gap, that is, $1.43 million after 40 years of work. Mexican women earn 54 cents on average and on their typical salary of 37,394 they lose 1.2 million in their working life. Argentinian women are the ones most on par with the rest of the average women and still lose more than 440,000 dollars in total.
Women earn significantly less than the highest-earning men in all education scales. For every $61,160 a year that a white man with just a high school diploma earns, the Latina receives $40,170, according to AAUW. The higher you go up the educational ladder, the more the difference grows.
The most extreme situation occurs among the professional middle class. In this case, when she earns an average of $79,570, he will receive $102,600 more for his work. According to the NWLC, a professional Latina can lose around $2.9 million over a 40-year career due to the salary gap.
Part of the wage difference also comes from the fact that Latinas have jobs in low-wage sectors and also earn less in these jobs. The overrepresentation in these sectors is also not compensated in the highest salary spectrum, since Latinas are underrepresented by occupying only 1% of jobs in engineering or computing, where there are better salaries.
According to the AAUW, it is necessary to end the biases that Latinas face, the inequalities in the educational system and advance legally and practically in terms of equal pay, in addition to modifying hiring and promotion practices. The alternative is to wait more than 170 years.
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