#WomensHistoryMonth: Gender wage gap exacerbated by the pandemic

March 15 is Equal Pay Day for most women in the United States, but that doesn't begin to tell the complete story of the gender wage gap.

For Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Women’s Equal Pay Day was March 3 thanks to the high earnings of Taiwanese, Indian, Malaysian and Chinese American women who, on average, earn more than white men.

While their earning may appear laudatory for AAPI women and reinforces the model minority stereotype, it hides the wage gap experienced by the majority of women of other Asian groups. Burmese women, for example, earn only 52 cents for every dollar earned by white women. The story is similar for Nepali American women who earn 54 cents per 1 dollar for white men. For Cambodian, Hmong, Samoan and Tongan women, the disparity is 60 cents.

On the average, AANHPI women are paid 75 cents for every dollar paid to white men. The wage gap is wider than in the past because COVID-19 pandemic pushed many women, especially women of color, into part-time or seasonal work, or out of the workforce all together.

Even within high earning fields, Asian American women in the high tech industry, lawyers, physicians and academics are paid less than their male counterparts.

The wages of AANHPI women are driven down by a number of factors, including gender and racial discrimination, workplace harassment, job segregation, the devaluation of tasks dominated by women, and the lack of support for family caregiving, which is still primarily tasks performed by women. 

When the AANHPI community is disaggregated, a more complex truth emerges. In reality, many AAPI women struggle to afford necessities including health care and housing because of the gender and racial discrimination that leads to unequal pay.

This symbolic day denotes how far into the year women must work to be paid what men were paid the previous year. This date is based on the latest U.S. Census figures showing that the average woman who works full time is paid on average just 83% of salaries of white men.

Started by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) in 1996, the goal of Equal Pay Day is to raise awareness about the gender wage gap. But because the pay gap varies significantly among different communities, other Equal Pay Days have been added to the calendar to reflect that fact that many women must work far longer into the year to catch up to men.

The average Asian American / Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander woman is paid $0.85 for every $1.00 paid white, non-Hispanic men, losing hundreds of thousands of dollars over a 40-year career.

"Model-minority" rhetoric is racist, classist, divisive, and just plain wrong. The wage gap affects ALL women.

AAPI women are overrepresented in the front-line workforce providing essential services during the pandemic -- all while making a fraction of what their male counterparts earn. At the same time, nearly half of unemployed Asian women had been out of work for six months or longer in December. The wage gap and high unemployment rates are putting AAPI women’s economic security in jeopardy, making it harder to make ends meet and support their families.

This year, these dates have been designated using a new methodology because of the disparities created by the pandemic. Because of this, past methods of calculating the wage gap fell short of accurately capturing the full picture. (Historically, Equal Pay Day has been calculated using data on full-time, year-round workers.) 

For 2022, the Equal Pay Day coalition has adopted a new, more inclusive methodology. This encompasses a broader cross-section of women, including those who work part time or seasonally, to represent a more accurate picture of how the gender pay gap impacts diverse communities

• Black Women’s Equal Pay Day is September 21. Black women are paid 58 cents for every dollar paid to white men.

• Native American Women’s Equal Pay Day is December 1. Native women are paid 50 cents for every dollar paid to white men.

• Latina’s Equal Pay Day is December 8. Latinas are paid 49 cents for every dollar paid to white men.

The model minority myth, or the idea that AAPI women are all well off and have stable incomes, furthers the misconception that we don't need additional resources or support.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.