The Looming Wage of Latinas in Texas

Rep. Lizzie Fletcher of Houston highlighted on Nov. 20 during the Latina Equal Pay Day in her tweet, "In Texas, Latinas make less than $0.45 for every dollar a man makes. That makes us 49th in the nation. The Senate must pass the [Paycheck Fairness Act] now. Latinas deserve better - we all do."

The House of Representatives in Texas approved the Paycheck Fairness Act, it will be sent to the Senate for approval. If this is put into law, it will help the underrepresented groups by increasing the penalties of employers who are issuing discriminatory wages to their employees. The bill also requires companies to report to the Department of Labor in terms of the employees' pay information and employers will be held accountable if Latinas are to be paid unfairly.

The Paycheck Fairness Act came into flesh after research found that Latina workers had to work 20 more days to be paid the same as with non-Hispanic men in 2018. The study also shows that this practice is getting worse.

Maya Raghu, Director of Workplace Equality at the National Women's Law Center, said that in 2019, Texas was the third-worst state to make a living for Latinas and the state is also worst when it comes to wage gap. She added, "the wage gap for Latinas has barely budged in about 30 years."

Moreover, in a report from mitu, the wage gap among the Latinas is getting worst. Texas is now the second-worst state in America for Latinas to make a living in terms of equal wage. This led Rep. Fletcher to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. Many were asking about the bill, Rep. Fletcher wrote in her tweet, "Someone asked the question, so to be clear: this statistic refers to white, non-Hispanic men."

The move of Rep. Fletcher received critics from different groups and individuals, especially from white Americans. One even tweeted with the caption "NO to #LatinaEqualPayDay!!" Meanwhile, one of the factors why Latina cannot compete in wages is due to the level of their educational attainment.

According to a government study, 19 percent of all Latina-American aged 25-29 completed a degree in 2013 compared to 44 percent of non-hispanic women. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said that when you based the wage in education, it's only getting worse.

The Bureau of Labor said that the pay gap between non-Hispanic men and Latinos is 65 percent. Latinas in the legal field are paid $52,477 a year while non-Hispanic men earn an average of $150,487. On the other hand, Latina CEOs and General Managers are paid 35 percent less than their non-Hispanic male counterparts.

According to the National Partnership for Women and Families in their April 2019 report, Latinas would possibly earn $1.1 million if they were only paid fairly. In their report it was cited that "if the wage gap were eliminated, on average, a Latina working full time, year-round would have enough money to afford one of the following: more than three additional years of child care, nearly 19 additional months of mortgage payments, more than two additional years of rent, almost two years of the maximum retirement contribution to her employer-sponsored 401(k) retirement account, or more than five years of the maximum retirement contribution to her Traditional or Roth IRA account."