Wyoming’s wage gap is real — and large

Submitted by Jackie Anthony
Posted 4/5/22

Dear Editor:

Regarding Mr. Kevin Killough’s editorial regarding the wage gap between men and women being equal, I call BUNK!

1) Of course, this article was written by a man.

2) In a …

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Wyoming’s wage gap is real — and large

Posted

Dear Editor:

Regarding Mr. Kevin Killough’s editorial regarding the wage gap between men and women being equal, I call BUNK!

1) Of course, this article was written by a man.

2) In a May 25, 2021 article from Forbes magazine, Tom Spiggle states that the gender pay gap still exists and that gap will remain until 2059. This gap is defined with women’s income being $.82 for every $1 made by a male. IF gender was not accounted for, the gap shrinks to a 2% difference.

3) A Jan. 27, 2022 article by the U.S. Census Bureau states that based on unemployment insurance wage records for the third quarter of 2020, women in the U.S. “earned 30% less than men and that pay gap increased with age.”

4) Perhaps Mr. Killough could look at the March 15, 2022 Business Insider article with charts showing the significant gap between men’s and women’s salaries in the U.S. This article is especially interesting. It shows a 2019 study of full-time, year-round civilian employees 16 and over in Wyoming with a 36.6% gender pay gap —“the biggest wage gap in the nation.”

5) FINALLY (let’s not forget) there was a settlement with the U.S. Soccer and Women’s players on equal pay. Those women received $24 million and received a pledge to equalize pay for the men’s and women’s national teams (New York Times, Feb. 22, 2022).

I believe that the above shows us that Mr. Killough’s statement “that blanket assumptions of discrimination in pay simply don’t hold up” is erroneous. Instead of telling women they are equal, I think Wyoming has a long way to go to PROVE it.

Jackie Anthony

Powell

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