Women's forum oppose EEOC plan to end data collection per ethnic groups

The pay disparities between different Asian subgoups belie the model minority myth about the economic well-being of all Asian Americans.

That knowledge that allows nonprofit and federal agencies to focus their assistance to the groups that need help the most.

That knowledge is also in danger. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has proposed stopping the court-mandated pay data collection broken down by race and gender.

“Are AAPI women equal under the law?: asked Sung Yeon Choimorrow, executive director of National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum.

"Our lived experiences and the data show that we are not (equal). AAPI women must work, on average, two extra months for our pay to catch up with the annual pay of white men--and average wage gaps in several AAPI ethnic subgroups are significantly larger,” she continued in a statement.

Asian American women on average earn 85 cents for every dollar a white man earns. 

However, Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander women have some of the highest wage gaps compared to other racial and ethnic groups. Nepalese women make only 51 cents to every dollar a white man earns, That number is even less for Burmese (44 cents),9 Marshallese (44 cents),10 and Bhutanese (38 cents) women.

“Let it be known that the EEOC’s proposal, if implemented, will further invisiblize AAPI women and girls. We strongly oppose this stop collection of wage gap data, and we will not silently allow ourselves to be erased from the national conversation about the wage gap," said Choimorrow.

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Screenplay writer leaves 'Crazy Rich Asians' sequels

Screenplay writer Adele Lim will not be working on the Crazy Rich Asians sequels.

A treatment for the sequels to Crazy Rich Asians has reportedly been handed over to the studios, but it doesn't involve Adele Lim, who co-wrote the CRA screenplay with Peter Chiarelli.

Lim has withdrawn from the project over the issue of pay disparity, according to The Hollywood Reporter. For the CRA sequels, Chiarelli was reportedly being paid about $1-million and Lim was offered about one-tenth of that sum.

"Being evaluated that way can't help but make you feel that is how they view my contributions," Lim tells the Hollywood Reporter.

Warner Brothers hired Chiarelli to adapt Keven Kwan's first book into a movie. Malaysia-born Lim was added to the writing team to make sure the script adhered to cultural correctness since the movie takes place in Singapore and significantly, has an all-Asian cast.

The Hollywood Reporter says that Warner Bros. searched for another Asian or Asian American writer to replace Lim but finally offered Lim a new contract more cloasely aligned with Chiarelli.

Chiarelli reportedly offered to share part of his salary to even out the disparity but Lim rejected to offer.

"Pete has been nothing but incredibly gracious, but what I make shouldn't be dependent on the generosity of the white-guy writer," Lim tells THR. "If I couldn't get pay equity after CRA, I can't imagine what it would be like for anyone else, given that the standard for how much you're worth is having established quotes from previous movies, which women of color would never have been [hired for]. There's no realistic way to achieve true equity that way."

Writing fees are usually based on previous credits. Chiarelli had written several movie screenplays but Lim's previous credits have been for television.

For now, Chiarelli is working with director Jon Chu in adapting the next two books in Kwan's trilogy for the movie sequels that will be filmed concurrently. Chu was not involved in the contract dispute with Lim, reports THR. They have reportedly gave Warner Bros. a 10-page treatment for the upcoming project.

Lim has also moved on. She has signed a four-year deal with Disney. Her first project is writing the screenplay for the animated story of Raya and the Last Dragon, based on a Southeast Asian myth.

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AAPI women earn more than other women, but that figure is misleading.

APALA

A 2018 demonstration at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women, in general, earn 85 cents for every $1.00 earned by a white, non-Hispanic male. 

March 5 marked Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Women’s Equal Pay Day, which represents how many extra months the typical AAPI woman in the U.S. has to work to make what her white, non-Hispanic men colleagues did last year alone. In 2017, self-identified Asian women working full time, year-round missed out on $9,010 annually and made only 85 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.
That's more than what white women earn compared to their male counterparts. White women, on average, earn 82 cents for every dollar earned by a white, non-Hispanic male.

Those who say Asian women's earnings performance compared to other women  might be cause for celebration, are missing the point -- 85 cents is still less than the $1 for the same work done by a white guy.

The figure for Asian women is also misleading. It hides the wide disparity within the AAPI community which contains over 40 ethnic groups and 100 languages. (See figure.)

Many racial and/or ethnic subgroups of Asian women experience much larger wage gaps compared to white, non-Hispanic men.

Based on 2017 figures compiled by the National Women's Law Center, even Asian women who are highly paid surgeons or physicians are underpaid compared to their male peers. In the medical professions, a male-dominated, high-wage occupation—Asian medical professionals make 57 cents for every dollar paid to their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts.

On the other end of the spectrum, Asian women working as hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers—a male-dominated, low-wage occupation—make 76 cents for every dollar paid to their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts.

24-HOUR WORKDAY

A scene from the documentary "24-Hour Workday" by Zishun Ning about the homecare workers in New York

Certain Asian women experience a larger wage gap than is reflected in the number for Asian women overall. Among full time, year round workers in 2017:

• Burmese and Fijian women make less than half—44 percent and 45 percent respectively—of what white, non-Hispanic men make. Hmong and Cambodian make little more than half (55 percent) of what white, non-Hispanic men make.
• Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Indonesian, Thai, Bangladeshi, Hawaiian, Vietnamese, and Laotian women all make less than 80 cents for every dollar made by white, non-Hispanic men.
• A few subgroups of Asian women typically make more than white, non-Hispanic men: Malaysian, Indian, and Taiwanese women were paid $25,000, $10,000, and $5,000 more than white, non-Hispanic men respectively. However, compared to Indian men, Indian women make just 76 cents and compared to Taiwanese men, Taiwanese women are paid just 80 cents. And while Chinese women are typically paid the same as white, non-Hispanic men, compared to Chinese men, they are paid just 89 cents on the dollar.
• Among full time, year round workers, Asian women without a high school degree typically make only 64 cents for every dollar white, non-Hispanic men without a high school degree make. Asian women with an associate’s degree typically make less—by about $8,076 each year—than white, non-Hispanic men with only a high school degree (about 83 cents for every dollar).
• While the wage gap for Asian women declines as they obtain more education, Asian women must obtain a bachelor’s degree or more before their typical wages exceed those of white, non-Hispanic men without a bachelor’s degree. Asian women with a bachelor’s degree are paid $60,660—only about 18 cents more ($1.18) for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men with some college but no degree.
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