Fair Pay, Financial Independence, and the Perils of HGTV

by Robin Reed, Online Outreach Manager,
National Women's Law Center

Last year, I followed the one piece of advice that every financial expert will agree on, and took a big step toward long-term economic stability. I bought a home.

Like many first-time home buyers, as soon as I made that first phone call to a realtor, I became addicted to HGTV. I wanted the tiled backsplash, the grand foyer, the two-story family room with fifteen-foot windows covered by remote-controlled honeycomb blinds. I wanted to live in a hip, urban area with perfect safety ratings and three cupcake shops on every block.

What I got was a one-bedroom condo in a sleepy neighborhood with a view of the Metro overpass.

Hey, I live in Washington, D.C., the one area of the country where home prices didn’t hit rock bottom during last year’s economic crisis. And I’m a single woman, with a single income (My cat, sadly, keeps forgetting to put in his share of the mortgage.)

And don’t get me wrong—I adore my new place. Sure, I would prefer a more exciting location, but I’ve become friends with the kind elderly gentleman who lives across the hall, and my lone neighborhood wine bar makes a fantastic chocolate-frosted cheesecake.

I knew from the outset that I couldn’t afford the HGTV dream home. But if, since I started working, I’d been earning that additional $10,622 each year that makes the up median wage gap between men and women, I definitely would’ve had more home-buying options. Maybe a two-bedroom condo, for a better resale investment. Maybe a more central neighborhood, to cut down on my commuting time and costs without compromising safety. Maybe Pottery Barn furniture instead of IKEA.

But I’m not complaining. Because I know I’m one of the lucky ones. Many women face countless other expenses that I don’t have to factor in — like student loans, child care, and all the other costs that come from caring for dependents. And because I live in D.C., I’m facing one of the smallest wage gaps in the country. Women here are paid 88 cents for every dollar paid to men, compared to, say, Wyoming, where that number is only 64 cents (Get the facts on the wage gap in your state here).

But no matter where we live or what our circumstances are, it’s up to all of us to do what we can to fight wage discrimination. That means spreading the word so that everyone knows it still exists — that nationwide, women are still paid only 77 percent of what men make — and urging our Senators to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act.

And in the meantime, don’t worry about me. I’ll be hanging out in my new condo, improving my financial IQ by watching "Designed to Sell."