WV WOMEN'S PAYCHECKS LAG BEHIND MALE COUNTERPARTS FOR EQUAL WORK

(04/14/2016)

West Virginia women's paychecks are not keeping pace with what men earn in the Mountain State. A study by the National Partnership for Women & Families and released for Equal Pay Day on Tuesday finds that women in the state employed full time, year round are paid just 70 cents for every dollar paid to men - a yearly pay gap of $13,560. If the gap between women and men's wages in West Virginia were eliminated, each woman who holds a full-time, year-round job in the state could afford to buy food for 2.1 more years, pay for mortgage and utilities for 14 more months, or pay rent for nearly 21 more months, the study said. The study said women in West Virginia lose more than $3 billion every year, which is money that could strengthen the state economy and the financial security of West Virginia's women and families, including the nearly 84,000 West Virginia households headed by women. The study said that the basic necessities women could afford if the wage gap were closed would be particularly important for the 36 percent of West Virginia's woman-headed households currently living below the poverty level. Meanwhile, the study also found that for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men in West Virginia, African American women who work full time, year round are paid 60 cents. The national analysis found that the 10 states with the largest cents-on-the-dollar wage gaps in the country - from largest to smallest - are Louisiana, Utah, Wyoming, West Virginia, North Dakota, Alabama, Idaho, Oklahoma, Montana and Michigan.

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