St. Mary’s: Biggest Gender Pay Gap in State

On Equal Pay Day, 2015, Maryland County-By-County Data Shows Vast Pay Gaps Between Women and Men

St. Mary’s county women earn 32 cents per hour less than men; biggest gap in Maryland

Maryland Working Families marked Equal Pay Day calling for an end to pay inequality in Maryland and released the National Women’s Law Center released new county-by-county data about pay disparities in Maryland.

In virtually every Maryland county except Prince George’s, women face a wage gap from a 10.3 cent gap in Charles County to a 32.4 cent wage gap in St. Mary’s County.

“Women in St. Mary’s County, Maryland face a 32 cent wage gap.  In Somerset County, they face a 24 cent gap.  The data are clear:  women in Maryland face a wage gap in virtually every county,” said Liz Watson, director of Workplace Justice for Women at the National Women’s Law Center.” This stark fact has real consequences for women and their families.  It means that women are losing significant wages each year that cut into household budgets. It’s an issue of fairness and it’s an economic necessity.  More money in women’s pockets will strengthen families and Maryland’s economy.”

Overall, women in Maryland earn about 86 cents for every dollar earned by men. African American women in Maryland earn only 70 cents and the gap is even larger for Maryland’s Hispanic women, who earn only 47 cents for every dollar earned by men.

Advocates of equal pay plan to pass a pay equity bill in the Maryland General Assembly in 2016. The Women’s Pay Equity Act, introduced by Sen. Susan Lee and Del. Kris Valderama, would strengthen the state’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act by prohibiting employers from paying disparate wages to workers of different genders and establishes clearer definitions for both employers and employees. Sixty-one percent of private sector workers say that their employers either prohibit or discourage discussing pay.

The statistics below are from the National Women’s Law Center.