Image: NAPAWF
Today is AANHPI’s Equal Pay Day, a day that we call for action on equal pay legislation while focusing on the wage gaps experienced by Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander women.
In 2021, AANHPI women working full-time year-round, part-time, and part of the year were typically paid just 80 cents for every dollar paid to a white, non-Hispanic man. When looking at those working in full-time, year-round jobs, AANHPI women were typically paid 92 cents for every dollar earned by white men.
We advocate for better equal laws on distinct equal pay days to illuminate racial and ethnicity wage gaps hidden when we examine the gender wage gap alone. However, even marking the wage gap for AANHPI women on a single distinct day obscures a more complex reality: AANHPI includes 50+ ethnic subgroups speaking 100+ languages & dialects, and the wage gap is drastically different for each of those communities.
Data and image via NAPAWF.
Many women in AANHPI communities face even wider wage gaps than these averages. Among 23 select subgroups of AAPI women working full time, year-round, pay ranges from 52 cents to 121 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. Bangladeshi and Nepalese-American women, for example, make less than half of what white, non-Hispanic men make.
These wage gaps represent the tangible consequences of structural sexism and white supremacy and the ways our country perpetuates occupational segregation, enables workplace harassment, and systematically devalues women of color and their labor—especially caregiving work, which is still most often performed by women.
Supporting Equal Pay in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania’s equal pay law has not been updated since 1967, when it was amended to apply to fewer people. Five legislative proposals are currently under consideration in Pennsylvania:
- House Bill 98 – Rep. Donna Bullock (D-Philadelphia) HB 98 would improve the state equal pay law, impose more penalties on employers engaging in discriminatory practices, and would establish an Equal Pay Commission to research pay disparities.
- House Bill 356 – Rep. Mary Isaacson (D-Philadelphia) HB 356 would require employers to post pay ranges for applicants and candidates for internal positions, upon hire, and thereafter.
- Senate Bill 36 – Sen. Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia) HB 36 would clarify and strengthen the state equal pay law, including capturing discriminatory disparities beyond wages, such as benefits and supplementary pay.
- Senate Bill 386 – Sen. Judy Schwank (D-Reading) SB 386 would restrict the right of prospective employers to ask applicants and employees about prior wage history, essentially expanding the protections found in Philadelphia’s ordinance to workers throughout the state.
- Senate Bill 421 – Sen. Steven J. Santarsiero (D-Bucks) and Sen. Maria Collett (D-Montgomery) SB 421 would broaden the scope of current law to include more employees and fringe benefits; Protect employees from retaliation when inquiring about wage information, ensuring wages are based on bona fide factors; and provide workers the ability to collect unpaid wages when an employer is found to violate the law.
Women’s Law Project is a non-profit public interest law center in Pennsylvania devoted to advancing and defending the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people in Pennsylvania and beyond.
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