A new report released this week shows a striking disparity between the earnings of white men in Ohio compared to other men, women and people of color.
In 2019, the average non-white male in Ohio made about 20% less than the average white male. Meanwhile, the average white woman made almost one-third less, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Community Survey data conducted by Scioto Analysis, a Columbus-based economics and public policy firm.
Closing the gap is important not just for women and those who depend on them. It’s also important for companies if they want to unlock a huge pool of potential talent, some experts say.
It’s a long-standing issue in Ohio.
“This gap has persisted over the past five years,” the report said. “While the earnings gap fell to $470 million in 2011, it ballooned 21% from 2011 to 2015 on the backs of higher earnings for white male workers. Since then, the earnings gap has persisted in the $560 million to $570 million range every year.”
The Scioto Analysis report says the gap in earnings between white men and white women is responsible for 80% of the overall earnings gap in Ohio. And that’s despite the fact that women are making more than they had.
“Despite the earnings growth white female workers experienced in the past decade, the gap between white male earnings and white female earnings continued to grow due to the high baseline earnings white male workers enjoyed in 2010,” the Scioto Analysis report said.
Because they’re fewer in number, pay disparities for non-white women are responsible for a smaller portion of the earnings gap. But they’re still likely to be stark.
An analysis of census data released in March by the National Partnership for Women and Families compared the incomes of minority women to non-Hispanic white men nationally.
“Latinas are typically paid just 55 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men,” the report said. “The median annual pay for a Latina in the United States who holds a full-time, year round job is $36,110, while the median annual pay for a white, non-Hispanic man who holds a full-time, year-round job is $65,208 — a difference of $29,098 per year.”
That’s enough for three years of tuition and fees at a four-year public university, nearly 38 months of childcare or 20 months’ worth of premiums for employer-based health insurance, the report said.
The analysis looked at how much minority women make for every dollar a non-Hispanic white man makes:
- Native American — 60 cents
- Black — 63 cents
- Asian American and Pacific Islander — 83 cents
At the legislative level, some have sought to address pay disparities through such measures as protecting workers’ rights to compare their paychecks and outlawing the practice of determining entry-level pay based on previous pay.
The Society for Human Resource Management in 2019 outlined other steps that companies can take themselves. Among them:
- Conduct an audit comparing what men and women are paid for doing similar work and correct disparities.
- Examine bonuses, stock awards and promotion rates.
- Offer flexible hours and paid leave for all employees.
- Reward output instead of long hours.
***
Also from Ohio Capital Journal:
More efforts this fall to legalize sports betting in Ohio? A good bet.
Ohioans will have to hold off from planning their next Buckeyes-Bengals-Browns parlay, but perhaps for not too much longer.
Ohio lawmakers did not finalize a proposal on legal sports gambling before departing the Statehouse for a summer break. But it’s a sure bet they will take a close look at the issue upon returning to work in September.
“Sports betting is a big priority,” Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp said in late June as his chamber wrapped up its final pre-break session. “We would like to get that done.”
The Ohio Senate took the lead on the sports betting issue, with lawmakers meeting a number of times to hear from industry professionals before introducing a proposal in May.
The resulting Senate Bill 176 took many changes prior to its passage in June, sending it to the House. State Sen. Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green, is a co-sponsor. Hopes of the legislation moving quickly through the House before the summer break were perhaps too ambitious. READ MORE
Cities in Ohio want to use the same clean-energy financing company that saddled Missouri homeowners with debt
For five years, economic development officials in Toledo, Ohio, have operated a pilot program that allows residents to borrow money for energy-saving home renovations without paying exorbitant interest rates. The program has been widely seen as a success, with only one of 61 borrowers currently delinquent on their repayments.
But now officials at the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority are preparing to expand the program to other parts of Ohio in a way that has led to trouble for some homeowners in other states — by turning over the program to a private, for-profit lender.
Those plans, which supporters say are necessary to grow the program to additional areas across the state, have many other local officials and housing advocates worried that borrowers will be harmed. Already, the leaders in the state’s two most populous cities — Columbus and Cleveland — have said they won’t participate.
The Toledo program is known as Property Assessed Clean Energy, and it allows borrowers to pay off home upgrades through their property tax bills. By operating on a small scale with strong oversight, the Toledo pilot stands in contrast to high-cost PACE programs in other states that have been run by for-profit lenders. READ MORE
