Op-Ed: Ensuring Equal Pay Would Help Close Gender Wage Gap for Mississippi Women

Written By: Portia Ballard Espy

President & CEO, Mississippi Urban League (Jackson, MS)

Mississippi is the only state in the nation without an equal pay law. 

This considering women in the state make up half the workforce and are the majority of breadwinners in more than half of families, and share the role in a quarter of households. Nearly 60% live below the poverty level.

On Sept. 14, 2021, the U.S. Census released its national Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance rates for 2020. While the numbers don’t capture the full picture due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, they do tell a national story of increasing poverty and a persistent gap between the haves and have nots, especially for women, especially for communities of color.

Mississippi has often had the highest poverty rate and the highest uninsured rate for women, ranking the state last in health outcomes for women and children. Moreover, Mississippi is one of the worst states in the nation for equal pay between men and women, meaning they have some of the largest gaps between the median income of women and white, non-Hispanic men.

Nearly 60 years after passage of the federal Equal Pay Act, will 2021 be the year when Mississippi’s women get a commitment to equal pay for equal work?

Closing the wage gap is essential for the economic empowerment of Mississippi women and their families and the communities in which they live. Equity in pay would provide the additional income needed by women to create a better economic life for themselves and their families. It is estimated that such a move would reduce the state’s poverty level by half.

In the U.S., the median annual income for a man holding a full-time job, working 12 months out of the year, is $57,456, while his female counterpart of the same status earns $47,299. The difference represents a wage gap of $10,157 which means that women make 82 cents for every dollar made by a man.

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