Page 12
August 22, 2018
MCS Still in
Business
O PINION
Martin
Cleaning
Service
Carpet & Upholstery
Cleaning
Residential &
Commercial Services
Minimum Service CHG.
$50.00
A small distance/travel
charge may be applied
CARPET CLEANING
2 Cleaning Areas or more
$30.00 each Area
Pre-Spray Traffic Areas
(Includes: 1 small Hallway)
1 Cleaning Area (only)
$50.00
Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area
and Hallway
Stairs (12-16 stairs - With
Other Services) : $30.00
Heavily Soiled Area:
$10.00 each area
(Requiring Pre-Spray)
Area/Oriental Rug Cleaning
Regular Area Rugs
$25.00 Minimum
Wool Oriental Rugs
$40.00 Minimum
UPHOLSTERY
CLEANING
Sofa: $70.00
Loveseat: $50.00
Sectional: $110 - $140
Chair or Recliner:
$25.00 - $50.00
Throw Pillows (With
Other Services) : $5.00
ADDITIONAL
SERVICES
• Auto/Boat/RV Cleaning
• Deodorizing & Pet
Odor Treatment
• Spot & Stain
Removal Service
• Scotchguard Protection
• Minor Water Damage
Services
Call for Appointment
(503) 281-3949
Equal Pay Laws Need Strengthening
There’s more to the
gender pay gap
j essiCah P ierre
The gender wage gap contin-
ues to harm women, their fami-
lies, and the economy, despite
women being in the workforce
for decades. But not all women
are marginalized by this disparity
in the same way.
In 1996, the National Committee on Pay
Equity decided to bring awareness to the wage
gap by creating National Equal Pay Day.
The day signifies how long it takes for a
woman to make the same amount of money a
man makes for the year prior. Each year Equal
Pay Day for All is held in April — meaning it
will take an average woman about 16 months
to make what a typical man makes in a year.
But when we look at the wage gap for wom-
en of color, this day of “catching up” falls way
later in the year — all the way into August.
Recent data from the National Women’s
Law Center has shown that while white wom-
en in the U.S. make 80 cents to every dollar
men make. Black women working the same
number of hours typically make just 63 cents
for every dollar paid to their white, non-His-
panic male counterparts.
This means that a black woman would
have to work more than 200 additional days to
make the same amount of money a white man
makes in a year.
To further paint the picture, let’s take a
look at the numbers. Currently, median wag-
es for black women in the United States are
by
$36,227 per year, compared to $57,925 an-
nually for white, non-Hispanic men. This
amounts to a loss of about $21,698 each
year for African American women and
their families.
Some might argue this is because black
women aren’t working the right jobs, but
the data says otherwise. A fact sheet re-
leased by the National Partnership for
Women and Families found that even
in states with large populations of black
women in the workforce, rampant wage dis-
parities persist.
Along with Latinas, black women have the
highest default rates.
African American women are also cur-
rently the fastest growing group of entre-
preneurs in this country. But they still face
many barriers that contribute to the wage
gap, including employment discrimination,
gender and race-based bias, lack of pay
transparency, inadequate minimum wages,
unfair workplace practices, lack of afford-
able child care, lack of quality public educa-
tion, a dismantling of organized labor, and
inadequate access to capital.
A fact sheet released by the National
Partnership for Women and Families found
that even in states with large populations of
black women in the workforce, rampant wage
disparities persist.
Others might also argue that maybe black
women aren’t earning more because they’re
not pursuing degrees in order to get higher
paying jobs. But the National Center for Ed-
ucation Statistics found that black women are
enrolled in college at a higher percentage than
any other group — including white women,
Asian women, and white men.
Despite this, black women are still margin-
alized by the fact that they also take on more
student debt than any other group of wom-
en. And because they make less money after
graduation, it takes longer to repay their loans.
The only way we can actually reverse this
gender and race-based pay gap is through
effective policy-making. That includes
strengthening our current equal pay laws to
specifically address the disparities affecting
women of color.
In return, the beneficiaries of these policies
will be not only black women and their fam-
ilies, but all women and all families. A rising
tide lifts all boats, right?
Jessicah Pierre is the inequality media spe-
cialist at the Institute for Policy Studies. Dis-
tributed by OtherWords.org.