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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 22, 2015)
April 22, 2015 Page 7 2SLQLRQDUWLFOHVGRQRWQHFHVVDULO\UHSUHVHQWWKHYLHZVRIWKH 3RUWODQG2EVHUYHU:HZHOFRPHUHDGHUHVVD\VSKRWRVDQG VWRU\LGHDV6XEPLWWRQHZV#SRUWODQGREVHUYHUFRP O PINION +RZ0XFK'R:H0DNH&RPSDUHGWR0HQ Dramatic differences state by state BY M ARTHA B URK For years, Time magazine has a run a feature on the best places to live in the United States. But no- body ever ranked the best places for women — until now. A major factor for anyone’s quality of life, of course, is the ability to earn a living. And nationally, according to a new study by the Institute for Wom- en’s Policy Research, women workers pull in an average of just $38,000 a year, compared to $48,000 for their male coun- terparts. But it varies dramatically from state to state. You could either be shortchanged or e reap a relative bonanza re all a because of where you hang your hat. h Young women in the District of Columbia rake D in the most, at nearly D \HDU DQG 0DU\ODQG women come in second at 40 grand. Way out west, Idaho is dead last at just under $25,000, HGJLQJ RXW 1HZ 0H[LFR DQG 0LVVLVVLSSL IRU ERWWRPRIWKH barrel honors. And that ever-present pay gap with men? It’s better in New York. Though women in the state overall get just 87.6 percent of men’s pay, young women actually out-earn their male peers by 2 cents on the dollar — which puts that state at the top of the heap. Women in Wyoming suffer the most in that regard, getting paid just 67.9 cents to their brother’s buck. One reason could be that Wyoming women have their ¿UVWEDELHVPXFK\RXQJHU²DW an average age of 23 — com- pared to their sisters in Go- tham, who wait until they’re 27 or 28, giving them more time to get educated and start careers. Some states are closing the gap faster than others, but it’s going to be a long time before women in any state reach pari- ty with men. Based on historic rates of FKDQJH )ORULGD ZLOO EH ¿UVW but not until 2038. And poor Wyoming won’t be equal for another century and a half. There are a few other sur- prises. Well, maybe more than a few. For example, young women in D.C. binge drink more than those in America’s sin city, Las Vegas. Is that due to frustration with government gridlock? The report doesn’t say. Researchers also look at depression. As you’d expect, sunny climes like Hawaii and California boast the happi- est workers, while cold, rainy states are downers. What’s a girl to do? Since not everybody can just pick up and move, a better question is what the states can do to improve women’s lives. Providing better educational opportunities and higher pay, including a bigger minimum wage, would make great places to start. Martha Burk is the director RIWKH&RUSRUDWH$FFRXQWDELOLW\ 3URMHFWIRUWKH1DWLRQDO&RXQ- cil of Women’s Organizations and the author of the book Your 9RLFH <RXU 9RWH 7KH 6DYY\ Woman’s Guide to Power, Pol- LWLFVDQGWKH&KDQJH:H1HHG 7RR0DQ\3HRSOH6WLOO/HIW%HKLQGRQ-REV Dark cloud inside a silver lining M ARC H. M ORIAL One of the advan- tages of my position as the president and CEO of the National Urban League is that I have both the opportunity and platform to speak to so many of our nation’s young people. I was presented with that same opportunity recent- ly as a featured speaker of the 0HGJDU(YHUV&ROOHJH*OREDO Lecture Series. As I addressed that crowd of future lawyers, IT profession- als and perhaps even a pres- ident of the National Urban League, it struck me that for a number of these students—our future workforce— they may encounter an America and a job market that is hostile to the principles of economic mobil- ity on which our country was founded. Five years after the wide- ly-accepted end of the global economic downturn com- monly known as the Great Recession, America’s econo- my inches ever closer to full recovery. In fact, the start of 2015 saw the most sustained period of job creation this cen- BY tury. But the dark cloud inside this silver lining is that too many people are still being left behind—particularly in our communities of o color, where unem- co ployment remains at p a crisis level, even as our o economy contin- ues u to rebound. For blacks and Latinos in America, L the economic devastation of the Great Recession is as real today as it was when it began in 2007 and what we’ve found in our newly released 2015 State of Black America report ³6DYHRXU&LWLHV(GXFDWLRQ Jobs + Justice” is a mixed eco- QRPLFVEDJWKDWUHÀHFWVDVWDUN tale of two Americas. The U.S. economy added 295,000 jobs in February of WKLV \HDU )RU WKH ¿UVW WLPH since 1997, we have seen 12 straight months of pri- vate-sector job growth above 200,000 and unemployment is down to 5.5 percent—its ORZHVW UDWH VLQFH 0D\ But despite this encouraging news, the black unemploy- ment is twice that of white unemployment, wages are stagnant and many working people are not earning enough to make ends meet. The Equality Index in the State of Black America report catalogued black, Hispan- ic and white unemployment and income inequality in the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. Overall, the black un- employment rate was at 11.3 percent and the Latino unem- ployment rate stood at 7.4 per- cent versus a white unemploy- ment rate of 5.3 percent. Of the 70 cities ranked for black- white unemployment, almost half (33 cities) had a black unemployment rate above 15 percent. In seven of those cities we discovered Great Depression era black unem- ployment rates of 20 percent or higher. It is clear that for far too many blacks and Latinos, our nation’s economic recovery is only something they read or hear about. According to our analysis, America’s comeback is bypassing large swaths of people in black and brown neighborhoods—and that is dangerous—not only to those communities, but to our nation. A recovery that leaves millions of its citi- zens behind will ultimately threaten America’s sustained growth. In a recent report on jobs and unemployment in the black community, Econom- ic Policy Institute economist Valerie Wilson said, “Even before the Great Recession, black unemployment has con- sistently been twice as high as white unemployment. To ad- dress this problem, we need to look beyond simply returning to the pre-recession status quo and implement policies aimed at ensuring that everyone who is willing and able to work has a job.” A central focus of the Na- tional Urban League is work- force development, and being in the business of creating jobs and proposing solutions to our longstanding challenges, our organization has advanced the following public-policy rec- RPPHQGDWLRQV Passage of a transportation infrastructure bill with a tar- geted jobs component; pas- sage a targeted, large-scale VXPPHU \RXWK\RXQJ DGXOW jobs bill; and raising the min- imum wage to a living wage. Experts are predicting an- other strong month of job cre- ation. While we applaud ev- ery stride our country makes in resuscitating our once bat- tered economy, we remain vigilant—and concerned— about the disparity of access WR WKHVH EHQH¿WV DPRQJ RXU nation’s citizens as revealed in the State of Black America report. I am concerned for all Americans, but especially for all the students I meet who live in those communities in crisis and are working so hard in their classrooms now while they dream of a better future. %\0DUF+0RULDOLVSUHV- ident and chief executive of- ¿FHU RI WKH 1DWLRQDO 8UEDQ League. The Law Offices of Patrick John Sweeney, P.C. Patrick John Sweeney Attorney at Law 1549 SE Ladd Portland, Oregon Portland: Hillsoboro: Facsimile: Email: (503) 244-2080 (503) 244-2081 (503) 244-2084 Sweeney@PDXLawyer.com