BOSTON -- Despite significant gains for women in the workplace in recent decades, the wage gap persists in nearly every occupation, from nursing to truck driving to financial management.
Today is Equal Pay Day, the average date it would take a woman working full-time to earn what a man did in 2020, nearly three additional months, and for Black, Brown and Indigenous women, it takes much longer.
Kim Borman, executive director of the Boston Women's Workforce Council, said it's no longer just about equal pay for equal work.
"What we really see is a gap in terms of the advancement of women into salaries, or positions that would pay at a higher level," Borman explained.
A new report from the Institute for Women's Police Research finds Latina women's median weekly earnings in 2020 were just under 60% of a white man's earnings, and Black women at close to 65%.
Alexandra Valdez, executive director of the Boston Mayor's Office of Women's Advancement, said she's always looking for new and innovative ways to boost women's entrepreneurship.
She pointed out a lot of women rely on their networks and mentors to seek new opportunities.
"Business owners, CEOs, nonprofit organizations, should continue looking at every single one of the types of work with an equity and inclusion lens, and to continue making sure that every woman has a seat at the table," Valdez urged.
The report found more than 70% of women say the government should do more to close the pay gap, from requiring companies to report gender and pay information, to prohibiting employers from asking job applicants about previous pay.
Borman argued innovative measures are key right now, especially with so much job loss due to the pandemic.
"People were just forced out because of layoffs; others were forced out because there wasn't childcare, because kids weren't going to school," Borman outlined. "And so, what we're really concerned about is that it could have put sort of decades-long gains in jeopardy."
She hopes women who have had to leave their jobs will be able to reenter the workforce and continue advancing.
get more stories like this via email
Oregon is in the upper echelon when it comes to the number of women in higher office.
Four of the five statewide elected positions in the state are held by women, including Tina Kotek in the governor's office. It is a rare achievement.
Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics, said the national average for women in statewide elected offices is about one in three. However, the number of women in the top positions in Oregon is guaranteed to go down in November, with men running for two of the five offices. Walsh acknowledged it is the nature of politics.
"No state can just say, 'Well, we fixed the problem of women's underrepresentation in politics. We don't need to do the work of recruiting and supporting women to run.'" Walsh stressed. "That work is ongoing."
Men will be facing off in Oregon's Secretary of State and Attorney General races in November. But Walsh noted the state has set a high bar elsewhere too. Women hold half of its Congressional seats and women are in a little more than 40% of the seats in the state legislature.
Walsh pointed out women face a number of barriers to office. While they raise comparable amounts of money to men running in comparable races, they are less likely to self-fund their campaigns. She explained women are more dependent on small donors, which can be good because it means more people are investing in the campaign.
"The flip side of that is that the amount of time and energy and work that it takes to raise $1,000 is just exponentially higher and harder for a candidate who is more dependent on those low level dollars or those low dollar donations," Walsh stressed.
Women running for office has become a big storyline this year with Vice President Kamala Harris' run for president. Walsh noted if she wins, it will be a big breakthrough for women, especially women of color.
"The only downside to seeing a woman elected at the very top is that people then think that the problem is solved because we've elected a woman President of the United States," Walsh added. "Complacency will not get us to gender equity across levels of office."
get more stories like this via email
Following the signing of the Michigan Family Protection Act by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, concerns remain about a potential federal ban on in vitro fertilization. The Act, signed in April, safeguards reproductive services such as surrogacy IVF and abortion. However, Project 2025 could limit access to these services if he wins the presidency in November.
Stephanie Jones of Grand Blanc, a mother who used IVF to conceive and had her daughter via surrogacy after secondary infertility, is a strong advocate of the procedure.
"A ban on IVF would be a ban on critical health care to hundreds of thousands of Americans, and without access to IVF, people would not be able to grow and some start their families. So it would be devastating," she contended.
Jones nearly lost her life due to a rare ectopic pregnancy, and credits an emergency abortion with saving her. Her pre-Roe experience now drives her advocacy for policies that protect IVF and support unrestricted abortion rights.
However, many right-to-life advocates contend that these reproductive services are not only morally wrong but unsafe.
Natalie Dodson, a policy analyst with The Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington D.C., warns that reproductive service providers often downplay the health risks associated with IVF for both mothers and babies.
"In particular, the risk of non-chromosomal birth defects increase by 40%, the risk of autism is two times more likely, stillbirth increases up to 4 times compared to spontaneous conception. Additionally, women who undergo IVF experience increased health risks and poor health outcome," she said.
Dodson claims that scientifically life begins at conception, inside or outside the uterus, and said her main concern is whether embryos created through IVF have the same value as those developing naturally.
get more stories like this via email
Women's Equality Day commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. More than a century later, women have made progress but more work needs to be done.
Women have made major gains in elected positions across the country. In Oregon, they make up more than 40% of the seats in the legislature, the 13th highest percentage in the country.
Libra Forde, co-chair of the Oregon Commission for Women, said the 19th Amendment was a big accomplishment but it did not end the push for women's progress.
"As they saw a need during their time for us to have availability and access to things that they didn't have, I think most of the women -- especially the women of the commission -- we see a need to do the same thing for things that maybe women have not had access to yet and kind of taking the torch that's been passed to us," Forde explained.
Forde highlighted some of the issues where Oregon lawmakers could go further, such as being more vigorous in protecting women from domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. On Aug. 26, 1920, the U.S. Secretary of State completed the ratification process for the 19th Amendment, ensuring women the right to vote.
Forde acknowledged Oregon lawmakers and groups across the state are doing a good job advocating for women's rights but added it is going to take a greater effort to protect rights for the next generation.
"We're going to need more than just women to do that work," Forde emphasized. "We need everyone to come together, kind of like they did 104 years ago, and say, hey, this is important to all of us and if we all came in on this, then I think we all can also succeed."
The Oregon Commission for Women is among the state's four advocacy commissions. It pushes for policies to support and protect women.
get more stories like this via email