Turtle Talk

Danielle DiGrazia & Ann Juliano have published “Addressing the Gender Wage Gap for Native American Women” in the University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender & Class.

An excerpt:

Native American women experience one of the largest wage gaps. Failure to remedy the wage gap for Native American women could lead to catastrophic consequences for generations of Native people. As it stands, the wage gap could amount to a financial loss of over $1.1 million over a 40-year career for a Native American woman starting her career today. This loss would disproportionately impact Native families over time, due to the prominent financial role played by women in Native households. Specifically, 64 percent of Native American mothers are the breadwinners for their families, meaning their families rely heavily on their income. Further, “[n]early one in four Native . . . households . . . are headed by women, and 30 percent of those households live below the poverty level.” Without equal pay, Native American women will continue to struggle to pay for “basic family necessities like rent, groceries, and school supplies” and to “invest in savings, higher education, or property.” However, if the wage gap were eliminated, the average Native American woman would be able to afford “[m]ore than 34 months of food; more than 29 more months of child care; their entire student loan debt in 16 months; almost 15 months of mortgage and utilities payments; or more than 17 additional months of premiums for employer-based health insurance.” The lack of sufficient funds today could also have ripple effects for future generations–for example, Native American women may struggle to put their children through school, then those children may have a more difficult time getting higher-paying jobs, and the cycle of economic disenfranchisement will continue.