Native Womens Equal Pay Day

date: november 21, 2024

• 52 cents for "all earners" (full time year-round + part time and part year)

• 58 cents for full time, year round workers

On November 21, 2024 we will be marking Native Women’s Equal Pay Day. This year, Equal Pay Today, Return to the Heart Foundation, Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women, Native Women Lead, Not Our Native Daughters, and the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, along with many organizations and activists across the country, will be taking collective action in a national social media storm at 2pm ET/11am PT.  

On this day, we are raising awareness and shining a light on the fact that Native American women working full-time year round only make, on average, 58 cents on the dollar as compared to non-Hispanic, white men. Worse still, when you look at all Native women earners, they only make 52 cents in comparison to all non-Hispanic, white male earners, one of the most significant wage disparities in the United States. If you break it down by Tribal nation, some Native American women are paid even less.  These wage gaps are appalling and undermine family economic security generation after generation.

The lasting impacts of colonialism, genocide, and state-sanctioned violence on Native communities continues to be felt today. Native Americans face higher rates of poverty, unemployment, and violence. Recent data shows that the majority of Native American mothers are breadwinners for their families; yet with Native women earning about half the amount of white men, it creates an economic barrier to provide for themselves and their families. Low pay, economic abuse, and the lack of employment protections play a huge role in why so many cannot safely leave abusive situations. Therefore, long-term safety is almost impossible.  

Achieving equity for Native women involves heeding the voices and leadership of Native communities, respecting their sovereignty, traditions, and cultural practices, and making new workplace and other economic justice policies - like fair pay, workplace safety, and paid leave – a priority. As a campaign, we must be resolute in our commitment to addressing both the gender and race-based wage gaps– and all the disparities faced by Native communities. 

Raising awareness is just one of the ways to address these struggles. The next step is to take action. During our social media storm, Equal Pay Today and the co-leading organizations are calling on policymakers to look holistically of the needs of Native women and their families.  There is not one solution that will address all of the compounding and intersecting needs; rather as this Congress is getting ready to adjourn, we use them to prioritize the economic needs of Native women by considering several key pieces of economic security legislation, including the: 

• Paycheck Fairness Act, which would modernize and strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963 to better combat pay discrimination and close the wage gap, including by protecting workers from retaliation for discussing pay, banning the use of prior salary history, and codifying pay data collection. (PFA Action Alert: https://p2a.co/YDqrNAQ#PaycheckFairnessAct)

• BE HEARD Act, which is comprehensive legislation to address workplace harassment, including by extending federal protections against harassment and other forms of discrimination to all working people, promoting transparency and accountability in the workplace, clarifying that sex discrimination at work includes harassment and other forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and eliminating forced arbitration and the subminimum wage for tipped employees. (BE HEARD Action Alert: https://p2a.co/jpgqiZG #BeHeardNOW)

• Healthy Families Act, which would set a national standard for paid sick and safe days to allow workers in businesses with 15 or more employees to earn up to seven job-protected paid sick and safe days each year. (HFA Action Alert: https://p2a.co/x89tCis #HealthyFamiliesAct)

• FAMILY Act, which would provide workers with up to 12 weeks of partial income when they take time off work for their own serious health condition; the serious health condition of a family member; the birth or adoption of a child; to address the effects of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; and for certain reasons related to military deployment. (FA Action Alert: https://p2a.co/T7zX9dK #FAMILYAct)

Our shared hashtags for the social media storm will be #NativeWomensEqualPayand #EquityForNativeWomen. Please use these hashtags to help build awareness on social media.

We hope you will join us on November 21 and in making equity for Native women a priority this day and always,

Equal Pay Today | Return to the Heart Foundation | Coalition to Stop Domestic Violence Against Native Women | Native Women Lead |Not Our Native Daughters| Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center

Save the date for a live webinar on December 5th!
We'll explore the crucial issue of pay equity and how to champion economic justice for #NativeWomen. Hear inspiring stories and actionable strategies from leading voices in the field. This is your chance to learn, connect, and become a stronger advocate. Register now – space is limited!