GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The gender pay gap has barely budged in the last two decades, according to new data.
Not only that— the numbers in Grand Rapids show BIPOC and older women are disproportionately affected, making less for the same work as men or even younger female colleagues.
The gender pay gap is the difference in earnings between men and women. While women's labor force participation has grown significantly in the last 73 years, on average, women are still making about 20¢ less to the dollar compared to men.
According to the Department of Labor, during WWI the number of women in the labor force significantly increased, even though women remained concentrated in industries like domestic and personal service and factory work.
In 1920 women made up only about 20% of the labor force. In 2021, that number jumped to 47%.
Now women work in every industry from engineering and manufacturing to communications and education. Despite large strides in the fight for equality, there's still a long way to go as those pay disparities continue into the 21st Century.
According to new data released by the Pew Research Center, in 2022 women earned an average of 82¢ for every dollar men made. That's just a difference of 2¢ when in 2002, women made 80¢ to the dollar.
"It doesn't surprise me. But to me, it's a sad reflection of the United States," Gun Lake Tribe Senior Director of Human Resources, Janine Sam said.
Sam says while that statistic is troubling, what concerns her more is the fact that Native American women make even less.
"There shouldn't be this level of disparity in this country, and it is solvable," Sam told FOX 17.
She says it's solvable if everyone at an organization or company commits to change. For Sam specifically, she has an all-female HR staff and— within the tribe— the women are sitting well above that 60¢ statistic.
"Women in general? 93¢ to every dollar that a man is paid," she said.
In some departments, women are even making more than men by a few cents. Sam says the tribe has been able to see this progress with the help of an outside third party that helps them find any gaps in pay.
"If we found a position out of market, if they were underpaid for the market, this leadership said put them at that wage and allowed us to make those pay adjustments," Sam said. "We pay them accordingly because that's what a good employer should do regardless of their gender."
And Indigenous women are not the only group disproportionately affected. Data shows Black women were paid 59 cents to the dollar compared to what non-hispanic, white men were paid in 2020.
"Black women sit with two marginalized identities," Grand Rapids Chamber inclusion program manager Amari Brown said. "We often experience both racism and sexism."
Brown's work focuses on trying to bridge gaps within Grand Rapids businesses by working with companies, hiring managers, and recruiters to level the playing field between genders. She says while Black women are graduating with high-level degrees like never before, hiring is still lacking.
"It's a troubling statistic to think about," she said. "But I do have hope that we're doing some good work in the area and that change can happen."
She says it's going to take a lot of factors for employers to level the salary playing field for men and women doing the same jobs, but a good place to start is with an internal audit like the Gun Lake Tribe has done, looking at hiring practices and committing to making changes.
"I sincerely believe that there are people, especially in our community, who want to do this work. And we'll that we see substantial change, to decrease that gap," Brown tells us.
Other groups of women like Latina women are also disproportionately affected, and disparities lie within age as well. A new Pew Research Center interactive tool allows us to see the pay gap by age group in specific cities, including the Grand Rapids/Wyoming area.
Women 16 and older on average, earned 77 cents to the dollar compared to men, sitting lower than the national average. Looking at women 16 to 29 years old, the statistic jumps, and this age group makes 90 cents to the dollar compared to men. However, women 50 and older only make only 74 cents to the dollar compared to men in the same age group.
If you are a business owner and need assistance taking a look at your hiring models, and practices, and want to actively fill some of the pay gaps, the Grand Rapids Chamber wants you to reach out. They offer assessments, internal audits, and training.