Zonta International is a global organization of individuals dedicated to building a better world for women and girls. The Zonta USA Advocacy Action Center is a tool for our members in the United States and other individuals who share our commitment to gender equality to take action to improve the lives of women and girls. With your help, we can make a difference. In addition to the actions below, click here to support our joint efforts with UNICEF USA to end child marriage in the United States.
Closing the wage gap is an important first step to ensure equitable outcomes for disabled women. However, it is not enough to guarantee those equitable outcomes, particularly given the cost of living with a disability. The wage gap is often widest for disabled women of color, who face the compounding effects of racism, ableism, classism and sexism. For every dollar paid to a white, non-Hispanic nondisabled man,
- Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) disabled women workers are paid 55 cents,
- American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) disabled women are paid 45 cents,
- Black disabled women are paid 45 cents and
- disabled Latinas are paid 44 cents.
“No worker—no matter their gender, their background, or whether they have a disability—should be robbed of their dignity or of a fair paycheck,” Senator Murray (D-WA) said. “Recognizing Equal Pay Day for women with disabilities is an important way to continue acknowledging the inequities those workers face and the work we must do to end them. Much like investments, the damage done by discrimination compounds over time, robbing women with disabilities of tens of thousands of dollars a year—sometimes over a million dollars by retirement—and excluding them from so many other opportunities throughout life. I will not stop fighting to make sure we end pay gaps, end discriminatory policies like sub-minimum wages for workers with disabilities, and continue building an economy that works for everyone.”
The introduced resolution, S. Res.825, recognizes the significance of equal pay and the pay disparity between disabled women and both disabled and nondisabled men. Senator Patty Murray, along with eight bipartisan co-sponsors, introduced the resolution earlier this month.
Please use our pre-drafted letters to urge your senators to co-sponsor and support the Disabled Women’s Equal Pay Day Resolution (S. Res. 825). If they have already sponsored or co-sponsored the resolution, you can send a message of thanks.