Pay Equity Awareness Day
So 4/20 has been proclaimed by Gov. Bill Richardson to be a day on which we ponder “gender, ethnic and racial pay equity.” He signed an executive order at the end of 2009 demanding state agencies report on salary gaps and correct them.
According to the New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women, the state is ranked dead last in the nation for impoverished women with 20 percent of the New Mexico’s female population living in poverty. The commission also broke down average pay by race. The numbers are illuminating:
White
Women $29,500
Men $42,000
African American
Women $24,300
Men $32,400
Asian American
Women $33,100
Men $39,800
Native American
Women $23,200
Men $26,500
Other/Two or More Races
Women $27,600
Men $33,100
Hispanic
Women $22,100
Men $27,600