Blog

New data reveal employment challenges for young women veterans, veterans of color, and disabled veterans.

There are many contributing factors to the wage gap, including racism, sexual harassment, and a lack of family-friendly policies. For Equal Pay Day this year, our team took a closer look at occupational segregation.

Today's new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for February reveal that the economy is starting to show signs of softening and that gains for women of color – who have long been marginalized in the labor market – are at risk.

This month's #JobsReport drops at the beginning of #BlackHistoryMonth – so we took a close look at how Black women are faring. And it's pretty clear that while Black women have done a lot for the economy, the economy – and policymakers – need to do a lot more for Black women.

Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its annual data on union members in the United States, showing small declines in the rate of union membership over the last year. Our analysis shows that while unions raise wages – especially for women – far too few workers were able to access their benefits in 2022.

Well, it's Moms' Equal Pay Day again. All the way in September. That's right – a typical mother would have to work nine additional months into 2022 just to be paid what fathers made in 2021. And wow, has it been a tough nine months for moms in the United States.

Why observe Equal Pay Day, year after year, if it's such a bummer? Because the wage gap is a way of talking about the tangible consequences that sexism and racism in our economy have on women. And it touches so many women year after year, no matter their occupation, education level or age.

Eighty years ago today, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) – the cornerstone of labor protections for working people in the United States – was enacted. While its protections for working people remain in place today, so, unfortunately, do its exclusions, which disproportionately harm women and people of color.