Wage Gap

The wage gap the National Women’s Law Center reports at the national and state levels are the same ones reported by the Census Bureau – the median earnings of women full-time, year-round workers as a percentage of the median earnings of men full-time, year-round workers. Median earnings are the earnings made by an individual at the 50^th percentile – the worker right in the middle. Earnings include wages, salary, net self-employment income but not property income, government cash transfers or other cash income – so basically what people get paid for working. Working full time means working at least 35 hours a week and working year round means working at least 50 weeks during the last twelve months (This includes sick leave and paid vacation. School personnel are also included if they are returning to work in the fall). Read more »

It often happens to me in airports. Or sometimes on road trips to outlet malls. I’ll be standing around, overwhelmed by gastronomic aromas, weak with hunger, clutching a fistful of change, and yet, for some reason, unable to decide which fast food establishment to patronize. KFC or McDonalds? Taco Bell or Wendy’s?

Turns out, it matters even less than you think. That’s because many of those restaurants are serving up the same meat – Tyson meat. According to Bloomberg.com, Tyson Foods, Inc. is the biggest meat processor in the country, providing chicken, beef and pork to fast food chains, grocery stores, and restaurants across the U.S. Last year, its net income reached $780 million. Read more »

For more about state poverty and wage numbers, please go to our overview page on the state-by-state 2010 Census data.

Just last week, the Census Bureau released data that showed no improvement in the wage gap – nationally, women who worked full time, year round were paid 23 cents less for every dollar paid to their male counterparts. This gap in earnings totals to nearly $11,000.

The wage gap for women of color was even worse. Black and Hispanic women working full time, year round were paid only 62 cents and 54 cents, respectively, for every dollar paid to their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts – no substantial differences from 2009. Read more »

In addition to the analysis we’ve done on the poverty data this week, we’ve also examined Census data on median earnings. The results are clear – the wage gap persists. Since 2009, the wage gap remains unchanged and has only shrunk by three cents over the last decade. Read more »