Gender pay gap remains wide in Oregon

Commentary

In some ways, there has been great progress in breaking down gender barriers. Take, for instance, the fact that all three gubernatorial candidates this past election were women.

But when it comes to dollars and cents — when it comes to the paychecks that cover rent, food, and more — progress has been slow.

Oregon women still earn significantly less than men, the most recently available data shows. In 2021, the typical Oregon woman earned 84 cents for every dollar that the typical Oregon man earned — the same level as in 2018 and only slightly better than a decade ago.

“What’s 16 cents?,” some may say. While that gap may not sound like much, it adds up to about a $10,000 difference over the course of a year. Over a lifetime, women lose out on hundreds of thousands in income.

For women of color, the pay gap is even more severe. December 8 is the national Latina Equal Pay Day. This day represents how far into the year Latinas must work to be paid what men were paid the previous year.

Latina Oregonians face both race and gender-based discrimination and structural barriers in the labor market. There is a long history of Latina women facing occupational segregation, being relegated to low-paying industries, or having the work they perform undervalued. Nationally, Latinas earn just 57 cents for every dollar earned by a white non-Hispanic man.

A pay gap remains when women of color are compared to men of the same race or ethnicity. Latina Oregonians earn between 72 to 89 cents on the dollar to Latino men. The gap is largest for South American Latina Oregonians.

Learn more by visiting Data for the People, our online resource providing the latest publicly available data on the economic well-being of Oregonians.