Unequal Pay: Stringer Finds Gender Wage Gap Still A Factor For Full-Time Female Employees

New York, NY – On Equal Pay Day, Comptroller Scott M. Stringer released an analysis of the gender and wage gap in New York City showing despite the positive effects of the Equal Pay Act, the average woman working full-time still earns only 82 percent of the average man.

That gap is even larger outside of New York City, with female workers making just 72 percent of male earnings.

Millennials have made strides in closing the wage gap in New York City, with women under the age of 35 earning 96 cents for every dollar young men earn. However, the wage gap widens considerably for women between the ages of 35-65 – with earnings of about 78 cents on the dollar.

“It’s disappointing to think a half-century after the Equal Pay Act, women still face significant financial inequities in the workplace,” said Comptroller Stringer. “This kind of discrimination belongs in the history books. It’s time women enjoy their fair share of this economy – they’ve earned it.”

Many factors underlie the stubborn wage gap, from women being pressured to leave the workforce to care for their children and returning to a labor market that favors continuous employment, to the segregation of women into certain fields and occupations where wages are characteristically lower.

“Comptroller Stringer’s report today spotlights the stark reality that even in a city as progressive as New York we still have a long way to go to end gender wage discrimination,” said Beverley Neufeld of Equal Pay Coalition NYC. “Comptroller Stringer’s recommendations for removing roadblocks to equal pay and increasing access to higher wage occupations – as well as his endorsement of the Women’s Equality Act -illustrate the Comptroller’s continued leadership on economic equality.”

“We applaud Comptroller Stringer for issuing this important report on Equal Pay Day. Pay equity is critical to family economic security. Working women, mothers in particular, need and deserve laws and policies to bring our workplaces into the 21st Century,” said Dina Bakst, Co-Founder and Co-President of A Better Balance. “We need real solutions-like the NY Women’s Equality Act, paid family leave, and stronger anti-discrimination measures for caregivers in order to achieve equal pay for equal work.”

Stringer’s recommendations include:

• Embracing paid family leave legislation at the federal, state and/or city level.
• Urging the state legislature to allow municipalities to set their own minimum wage and to pass the “Women’s Equality Act” to strengthen laws that require equal pay and protect women from workplace discrimination.

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