JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A research study conducted by the Women’s Foundation in partnership with the University of Missouri is driving the support of the Women’s Foundation for bi-partisan equal pay legislation.
“At the Foundation, research is a large component of our work with the data and facts to accurately tell the story,” said Women’s Foundation President & CEO Wendy Doyle. “In 2014, we conducted a qualitative and quantitative study, in partnership with the University of Missouri’s Truman School of Public Affairs. Our study focused on the status of women in Missouri.”
The study found that slightly more women than men work and, moreover, women are less likely to be unemployed than men. Additionally, the study found full-time employed women earn 29% less than men for same work. The $0.71 to the dollar women earn is not unique to a racial class. The study’s statistics show Missouri lagging behind the national average, which is $0.78 to the dollar.
More than two-thirds of Missouri’s counties – mostly in Northwest and Southeast Missouri – have larger pay gaps. The women of Carroll County in Northwest Missouri average income of 51% of men. A full county-by-county breakdown of the gap can be found here.
Doyle took the study to hearings on Senate Bill 144, sponsored by Sen. Paul LeVota (D-Independence) and House Bill 44, sponsored by Rep. Stephen Webber (D-Columbia), on March 9 to share with legislators.
“Research has shown that currently Missouri women who are employed full time — lose a combined total of approximately $8 billion dollars due to this wage gap,” Doyle said. “This means that if we can work together to close the gap, on average, a working woman in Missouri would have enough money for approximately 73 more weeks of food for her family (more than a year’s worth); eight more months of mortgage and utilities payments; nearly 13 more months of rent; or 2,934 additional gallons of gas.”
SB 144 and HB 44 are similar bills which seek to establish guidelines relating to gender pay equality and to require the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to create best practice guidelines in gender pay equity for state and local government and private businesses.
“We believe that House Bill 44 takes the right approach to get to the “why” there is a gender pay gap so that together, men and women, we can develop lasting solutions and get the results that we all desire,” Doyle said. “Economically self-sufficient women will lead Missouri’s next chapter of economic growth and by supporting this bill you will be investing in a stronger economy for all Missourians.”
Currently, HB 44 has 8 Republican and 14 Democratic co-sponsors, in addition to the Democratic sponsor. Of the sponsors, 10 are women and 13 are men.
The Women’s Foundation has been investing in equity and opportunity for women of all ages in Missouri since 1991.
Featured image from the Women’s Foundation website.
Rachael Herndon was the editor at The Missouri Times and also produced This Week in Missouri Politics, published Missouri Times Magazine, and co-hosted the #MoLeg podcast. She joined The Missouri Times in 2014, returning to political reporting after working as a campaign and legislative staffer.
Rachael studied at the University of Missouri – Columbia. She lives in Jefferson City with her husband, Brandon, and their two children.
