By Nathalia Teixeira / Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan reporting for the Kent State-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.

In Ohio, women earn on average 79 cents for every dollar a man earns, according to 2019 U.S. Census Bureau data analyzed by the National Women's Law Center.

Nationally, in 2002, women working full and part-time earned 80% of what men earned. By 2022, that had risen to just 82%, according to the Pew Research Center.

"One of the biggest reasons we haven't seen it reverse is because a lot of the reasons it exists in the first place are structural," said Sheri Jones, past president of the National Association of Women's Business Owners-Columbus.

Women are generally responsible for childcare, eldercare and home activities, experts said. They also face discrimination at work, and due to these structural factors, they tend to work in lower-paid fields that reduce their earnings for their entire life.

"Historically - especially in American culture, but in most cultures - people have been taught that women have qualities that are weaker, that they're less successful, that they're less focused. All of that is entirely untrue," said Kelley Griesmer, president and CEO of the Women's Fund of Central Ohio. "And the biases are the same on the reverse. Men are expected to be very confident, very successful."

Women are often expected to be good mothers and care for their homes, even when working in a full or part-time job.

"Women are still the ones managing the mental load at home, putting all that cognitive effort into managing the household," said Susan Fisk, associate professor of sociology at Kent State University. "They're still doing more housework."

Some women leave their jobs to focus on home and family duties, Jones said.

"Women, traditionally, it's so stressful to try to manage all these things that in a lot of cases they just give up and it's not worth it," Jones said. "Until we're willing to look at the structure and how we ask women to work, they may continue to choose to leave the workforce instead of work."

Fisk explained two sources of the gender wage gap. One is horizontal gender segregation, in which women are more likely to work in jobs that pay less, such as daycare. The second contributor is vertical gender segregation, in which the further you climb up an organization's ladder, the fewer women you see.

"People are just sort of less comfortable when that behavior [leadership] comes from women," Fisk said.

Joining the professional environment can be overwhelming for women as they face many challenges other than wages, such as discrimination, stereotypes and social stigmas.

"Women face negative stereotypes about their competence," Fisk said. "This can make it harder for women to succeed in these fields and cause them to experience bias in hiring, promotion and their day-to-day work."

Griesmer also mentioned that there are reports that show if you have two resumes that look the same with the same qualifications, but you put a woman's name at the top of the resume instead of a man's, research shows that the people who blindly review those resumes tend to think the man is more qualified than the woman.

Women come to the workforce more highly educated, Jones said. By not paying women the same as men, we're losing out on more diverse and interesting ideas and more innovation, she said.

"The patriarchal narrative continues because very often - for white men, all men but especially white men - it's very hard for them to admit that although they are decent people, they are still not treating women fairly," Griesmer said. "They want to believe that they've already mastered that."

The gender pay gap leads to the gender wealth gap. Griesmer and Jones pointed out that when a woman is underpaid in a previous job and a new job is offered to her, she may earn more, but a man who started out earning more may experience a bigger bump in pay.

"It just kind of haunts you the rest of your career," Griesmer said.

Women of color were among the groups that most suffered from the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas before the pandemic the Women's Fund of Central Ohio wealth gap showed that women of color own $0.02 for every dollar that a single man owns.

"The sad news is that the pandemic likely caused women to lose almost a generation of advances because so many of the programs that support women, the support structures for women, were removed or couldn't be given because of the way the world interacted during the pandemic," Griesmer said. "That's why a lot of people now refer to the pandemic as a she-cession, because women were so disproportionately impacted."

This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.


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In the final days of the legislative session, Kentucky Senate lawmakers could consider the "Momnibus" bill, which would increase access to critical prenatal and post-birth care for new moms and babies.

House Bill 10 would extend the state's voluntary home-visitation program for expectant parents to when a child reachs age three, and would include lactation assistance and telehealth.

Bonnie Logsdon, a board-certified lactation consultant and birth doula, said many women have to return to work a few weeks after giving birth and often lack the tools or knowledge to have a positive lactation experience.

"They need access to those quality supplies," she stressed, "and they need someone who can teach them how to use the pump, which is again where that lactation support would come into play."

The Momnibus bill would add pregnancy to the list of qualifying life events, so pregnant people could get health-insurance coverage and begin prenatal care visits.

Kentucky has the second-highest maternal mortality rate in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The bill would also expand mental-health counseling through the Lifeline for Moms Psychiatry Access Program.

In Letcher County, Courtney Rhoades said she's had a complex pregnancy, and has struggled to cope with stress and maintaining her physical health. She noted it's critical that first-time moms like herself have a place to turn for support, where they don't feel judged.

"Then to be finding out we're having twins," Rhoades said, "I am really excited to know that there's these programs available that otherwise I didn't know about."

Renee Basham, executive director of Hope's Embrace, said communities increasingly are aware of the role doulas can play in pre- and post-natal care. She added many of her clients need assistance.

"A lot of the clients that we work with, some of them have support, a lot of them don't," said Basham. "Doulas are extra important in that role, because if we weren't there, they wouldn't have anybody with them as they gave birth."

House Bill 10 would open the door to more research on the role of doulas in the birth experience, and how their expertise is being used for care and to reduce disparities in the Commonwealth.


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Advocates for women veterans, who've experienced sexual trauma while serving in the military, are asking state lawmakers for much-needed funding.

Previous legislation backed the creation of two sexual trauma liaisons at community-based organizations in the state, but funding never came to fruition.

Executive Director of the Augusta-based Sisters-in-Arms Center, Rebecca Cornell du Houx, said lawmakers have a chance to help veteran survivors rebuild their lives.

"To have a consistent clinician there to provide that trauma treatment to the woman veteran in a place that they're safe," said Cornell du Houx, "I think, can really, really support their recovery."

Cornell du Houx said one in three women soldiers experience some form of sexual trauma while in the military but many incidents go unreported.

There are more than 10,000 women veterans currently living in Maine.

Women veterans are one of the fastest-growing sectors of the homeless population, and are four times more likely to become homeless than their male peers.

Researchers also now identify military sexual trauma as the biggest factor driving a more than 60% increase in suicide rates among women veterans since 2001.

Cornell du Houx said while group therapy is available to these veterans, state funding would provide for more formalized treatment - especially for those coming off active-duty.

"I think if people knew the stories of what had happened to these women while they were in the service, just really disheartening stories of assault," said Cornell du Houx, "I think that they wouldn't hesitate to fund a position so that they could get help."

Cornell du Houx said sexual trauma is most prevalent among lower-ranking seventeen and eighteen-year-olds, who are influenced to think that reporting an incident is a betrayal of a fellow soldier.

She said it's important to support those who have come forward, to advocate for themselves and others, and who took an oath to serve their country.





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New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is sounding the alarm over the Supreme Court's decision to hear a case that could restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone.

It is the first major case related to women's reproductive rights since the Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

On Tuesday, after hearing oral arguments, the Court seemed likely to preserve access to the medication.

Cortez Masto said the country has witnessed what she calls "the tragic consequences of abortion restrictions," which started with the country's highest court.

"This just goes to show you," said Cortez Masto, "far-right extremists are going to stop at nothing to restrict women's rights when it comes to their reproductive freedom - that is why we can't give up."

Cortez Masto contended mifepristone is safe and effective and is also critical for miscarriage care.

But the case presented to the Supreme Court by anti-abortion doctors claim the Food and Drug Administration acted too quickly in removing restrictions on the drug.

If the court rules in favor of the plaintiffs, mifepristone access could stop immediately in all states - including those where abortion is legal such as Nevada.

Critics of the drug say it carries significant side effects, include bacterial infections and prolonged, heavy menstrual bleeding.

While mifepristone may not be prohibited all together, restrictions on the pill could be reinstated.

Cortez Masto argued conservative groups never planned to stop with just repealing Roe v. Wade, but adds they are aiming to roll back women's rights all together.

"That is why we can't give up," said Cortez Masto. "We have to continue to use our voices and be advocates to fight for women's rights."

The Supreme Court could make a decision on the case in June.

In the Silver State, a coalition is working to get an amendment on the ballot this November to enshrine abortion rights in the Silver State's constitution.