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Editorial: Women's work undervalued in bay area

 
Published April 19, 2018

Even a strong economy and low unemployment cannot overcome the persistent pay gap affecting full-time working women in Florida. A new report shows women in Florida earned 12.5 percent less on average than their male counterparts, and the disparities are even worse for minority women and single mothers. Tampa Bay area counties ranked better than others around Florida, but the situation statewide remains disadvantageous for women, whose contributions to the work force must not be undervalued and underpaid.

The report, "The Status of Women in Florida by County: Employment & Earnings," was researched and compiled by the Institute for Women's Policy Research and the Florida Philanthropic Network. It graded Florida an overall D-plus for the state of women's employment and earnings, which is worse than previous years. The median annual salary for women is $35,000 in Florida. For men, it's $40,000. The averages are slightly better around most of Tampa Bay. Both men and women are earning less money than they were in 2004 when adjusted for inflation. So the wage gap has narrowed — but that hardly means families are better off.

The study reveals predictable, distressing trends. White women in Florida, for example, earn significantly more than black and Hispanic women. But there are unexpected revelations too, such as the finding that education does not close the gap. Women with some college credit or an associate's degree earn comparable salaries to men with only a high school diploma. And it spares few industries and employers. SalesForce, a global leader in cloud computing with offices in Tampa, had made it a priority to promote women. But an internal audit found pay disparities in every department of the company that employs 30,000 people. To fix the imbalance, the company spent $3 million and gave raises to 10 percent of its female employees.

It's clear that industry leaders have to act, but policymakers can't sit on the sidelines. Raising the minimum wage would immediately improve fortunes for women, who hold a disproportionate share of low-wage jobs. The report also recommends stronger protection from retaliation against employees who discuss their pay, legislation that bars employers from asking about salary history, and mandating better transparency about gender and ethnic pay disparities. Career advisers should be counseling female students about the earning potential in different fields. Finally, paid-leave legislation that accommodates working parents would open up more opportunities for women and lead to healthier, more financially secure families.

If wages rise at the same lethargic rate they have since the late 1950s, the pay gap in Florida won't close until 2038, the report predicts. Two more decades of unequal pay is unacceptable. What's more, it's unsustainable as women's incomes become even more integral to supporting families. It's fine for Gov. Rick Scott to brag about creating jobs and the state's low unemployment rate, but men and women should be equally sharing the rewards of the economic recovery.