Dropouts Need Fair Pay Too!

by Lara S. Kaufmann, Senior Counsel, 
National Women’s Law Center 

Many of you may have heard that at every level of education, females earn less than males with similar educational backgrounds. But did you know that the wage gap between men and women is the highest among high school dropouts? It’s true. Female high school dropouts earn only 63 percent of what male dropouts earn, which comes to about $9,100 less annually, on average. In fact, it is not until the average woman has some college education that she earns more than the average man without a high school diploma. Pay equity matters at all income levels, especially for the women who are struggling to make ends meet to support their families. That’s just one of the reasons it’s so important that the Senate passes the Paycheck Fairness Act. For more information about low earnings and the other economic consequences faced by female high school dropouts, see NWLC’s report, When Girls Don’t Graduate, We All Fail: A Call to Improve High School Graduation Rates for Girls, as well as other materials here. 

See who else is writing about workplace fairness for women on this Equal Pay Day.