GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Women in only six states are paid less than women in Michigan. According to the National Woman’s Law Center (NWLC), on average, Michigan woman who work full-time, year round, are paid 74 cents less for every dollar paid to a man. The national wage gap is currently 77 cents.
The wage gap is even wider for African-American and Hispanic women in Michigan, who earn 55 to 68 cents, respectively, to every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.
Women represent nearly two-thirds of minimum wage workers, according to the study. The fact is, when broken down, full-time, year-round work at the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, leaves a woman with two children, thousands of dollars below the poverty line.
“Despite woman’s advances in the workforce over the past forty years, the gender wage gap still exists. This gap translates into hundreds of thousands of dollars that a woman will lose over her career life; income that could have made a critical difference to the economic security of their families”, said Sharon Caldwell-Newton, Executive Director of the Woman’s Resource Center, located in Grand Rapids.
