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It’s 2018 and Latinas Are Still Making 53 Cent For Every Dollar


Today is Latina Equal Pay Day and did you know that Latinas ONLY make just 53 cent for every dollar the average white, non-Hispanic man makes? In order for Latina women to make anywhere near what the average white man earns, she would have to work 305 extra days in the next calendar year and there’s absolutely nothing fair about that. Here’s everything you need to know about this day and why it’s so important.

We’re getting paid less than before.

What’s particularly frustrating about these numbers is that last year the Latina wage gap was 54 cents for every dollar the average white, non-Hispanic man made, and now it’s 53. In other words, we’re actually going backward. This is a huge problem.

It hurts us the most.

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Today is what’s known as #LatinaEqualPayDay — which represents the number of days into 2018 that Latina women in the United States must work to earn what their white male counterparts earned last year (in other words: 10 extra months). Nationally, full-time working Latina women earn 53 cents, on average, for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. The pay gap affects women across races and backgrounds, but it hurts Latinas most of all. Even when you control for factors like education, experience, and occupation, the pay gap persists. At the current pace of change, the gap will not close until 2106.💰Watch our insta-story to learn more. | Data: @aauwnational, @iwpresearch

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The pay gap affects all women but it actually hurts Latinas the most. According to the American Association of University Women (AAUW), if the current pace doesn’t change the gap will not close until 2106. We shouldn’t have to wait 88 years to finally be paid equally.

Latina Equal Pay Day is celebrated to bring awareness to this gap.


In fact, according to Forbes, a Latina can lose up to $1 million over the course of her working life because of the wage gap. How unfair is that? But closing the gap could mean adding more than $26,000 to her annual salary. That could cover everything from the full cost of tuition and fees at a two-year community college, 18 additional months of mortgage and utility payments, three additional years of child care, and three-and-a-half years of groceries. That is a lot!

This gap hurts Latinx families.

Mainly because more than half of all Latinas living in the U.S. are actually the primary breadwinners in their homes, resulting in Latinx families remaining in poverty.

There’s a Phenomenally Latina T-shirt going viral right now.

The funds from the T-shirt purchases help benefit the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health. Visit www.phenomenalwoman.us to help out. 

Latina celebs are participating in the movement.

Gina Rodriguez posted this earlier today and pointed out how the wage gap is such an injustice.

Jenna Ortega highlighted the issue on her IG as well.

There is still so much work to be done for Latinas to finally get paid equally.

America Ferrera had A LOT to say about this. 

“ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME!!? The year is ALMOST OVER and just TODAY is #LatinaEqualPay Day, when we “catch up” to what white, non-Hispanic men were paid in 2017, WTF??? she captioned this IG post.

Zoe Saldana and her sisters got involved too.

Equal pay is a social right and economic empowerment leads to female empowerment.

Latinas are the largest ethnic group in the U.S. behind whites.

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And that’s why this Nov. 1st we’ll be extra loud to bring awareness to #LatinaEqualPay day. ✊🏽 . ✨ We are the most powerful labor force and valuable consumer in this country (we’d rank as the 7th largest in the WORLD if the Latinx combined GDP were its own country!), yet Latinas are at the very bottom of the totem pole as far as equal pay.✨ . We make 54¢ to the dollar of a white man and the 80¢ of white women. How can this disparity even make sense?! 🤯 . 🔜 Nov. 1st marks the additional 🔟 months we’d have to work every year to earn what a white man makes in 1️⃣ year. We’ll be sharing more facts and ways to raise your voice for equal pay for ALL. And, yes, it does start with your vote on Nov. 6th. 👊🏽 . . . . . . #latinaequalpay #latinaequalpayday #trabajadoras #demandmore #growyourpower #weallgrow

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This not only hurts Latinas but it hurts the country overall because everyone—all companies—benefit from diversity in the long run.

How can we address this gender wage gap problem?

Eva Longoria actually had some good ideas she mentioned in an op-ed she wrote last year for Fortune. “The first step is a cultural shift in which we acknowledge our unconscious bias and, as a society, believe women when they say the wage gap isn’t a matter of personal choice (e.g taking time to raise children, not asking for a promotion), but rather a symptom of systemic gender discrimination.”