Latina Equal Pay Day: As wage gap persists, more help is available
There's a long way to go for Hispanic and Latina women. Nationally, they make just 54 cents for every dollar a white man makes.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- On Latina Equal Pay Day, many are sounding the alarm and are ramping up efforts to raise awareness on the pay gap that persists amongst Latinas.
According to a new study by the National Women's Law Center, when you take into account full-time, part-time and part-year work, Latinas were typically paid 54 cents for every $1 paid to white, non-Hispanic men in 2021.
"I think the stat that, to me, is still so appalling is that over the course of our career, our lifetime, we lose out of $1.2 million of earnings throughout our career, meaning that we would have to work until the age of 90, which is beyond our life expectancy, to make what a white man, non-Hispanic makes by the age of 16," said Vanessa Santos, the co-CEO and partner of the Los Angeles-based lifestyle platform #WeAllGrowLatina.
The platform provides spaces for professional and personal growth. This week, it hosted a panel alongside Indeed to discuss the Latina pay gap and solutions.
They also teamed up with Karla and Co. and made a custom T-shirt to raise awareness that reads "Págame," which means "pay me" in Spanish.
"Our designer is from Mexico, and it was amazing to be able to create this," said Karla Butvidas, the CEO and founder of Karla and Co.
The profits will go the national nonprofit called Hispanic Alliance For Career Enhancement, also known as HACE. It supports the employment, development, and advancement of Latinos in the workforce and offers resources designed for women.
HACE president and CEO Patricia Mota is calling on employers to do their part with initiatives like equity assessments.
"Looking at all of those structures and processes that are hindering perhaps people of color, Latinas, in this case, from not only getting paid equitably or equally, but also from promotional opportunities, visibility projects, from things that are happening in the workplace," said Mota.
Mota encourages Latinas to research pay in their industry, take advantage of available resources, practice advocating for themselves, and remember to always remember why they're doing it.
"I'm not only empowering myself and empowering others to try to justify the sacrifices that my parents, my grandparents have made so that we do better, we have better," said Mota.
