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In Arizona, women typically make about 85 cents for every dollar men make.
A recent study by the American Association of University Women says that discrepancy ranks Arizona eighth nationally in gender pay equity.
It's even worse for Latina women, the study shows.
"On average, Latinas are paid 53 cents to every dollar that white men earn," says Desiree Maultsby, program manager for the Women's Business Center at the YWCA of Southern Arizona.
Maultsby says she has worked with a number of Latina women through the center who start their own businesses as a way to earn higher wages and make a difference for their families.
"We have a high percentage of Latina women (in Tucson) who are single parents or the head household income earners for their families, so this pay gap impacts them in regards to housing, food, education and childcare." she says.
The 2010 census recorded Pima County's Hispanic population at about 37 percent, so this impacts our community big time.
On Nov. 1, the YWCA, in partnership with Women of Purpose, a Lean In Network, is hosting a pay negotiation workshop. Nov. 1 is Latina Equal Pay Day — the date to which a Latina would have to work in 2018 — plus all of her 2017 hours — to make what a white man made in 2017, according to the Lean In Network.
Here are three more things you need to know about the pay gap.
• Nationally, Latinas typically earn 47 percent less than white men and 31 percent less than white women. A pay gap often persists even when these women have the same level of education and experience and work the same high-wage job as a white man or woman, according to the Lean In Network.
• That decrease in pay over the course of a career amounts to about four years worth of groceries, Maultsby says.
• Maultsby says change begins with awareness, adding that even Latinas don't always realize there's a pay gap or how to go about asking for better compensation. The American Association of University Women has a free salary negotiation course you can take online.
Learn how to negotiate a job offer or pay raise
Join the Women of Purpose Lean In Network and the YWCA of Southern Arizona for a FREE workshop on Latina Equal Pay Day — Thursday, Nov. 1 from 9-11 a.m. — to learn about equal pay and how to negotiate a job offer or a pay raise to get what you deserve. Register now.
