Closing the Gender Pay Equity Gap Blueprint for Success: An Intersectional Approach

This is the third in a series of YWCA Greater Pittsburgh issue papers that describes one of today’s most critical issues facing working women, their children, and families: the gender pay equity gap.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 made it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who perform equal work, and civil rights laws were enacted to help mitigate pay inequality. Yet, the pay gaps continued to persist. In 2002, women on average earned 80 cents for every dollar a white, non-Hispanic man earned. More than two decades later, not much has changed. In 2022, women on average earned 82 cents for every dollar that white, non-Hispanic men earned. It took 20 years to close the wage gap by 2 cents. Simply put, it takes a woman a year and three months to earn what a white, non-Hispanic man earned in the previous year.

The information presented in this Issue Paper calls attention to the significant pay gap that exists among women of color when compared to white, non-Hispanic men.