NCWE Gender Equity Initiatives
Nevada Coalition for Women’s Equity
January 2017
PAY EQUITY
Background Information
Women who work full time in Nevada are paid 85 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts. Although the Equal Pay Act was passed more than 50 years ago, gender pay disparities still exist. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), if equal pay for women were instituted immediately, across the board, it would result in an annual$447.6 billion gain nationally for women and their families.
Impact on Women in Nevada
-The wage gap is 85 cents on the dollar in Nevada, but it is even larger for women of color. African American women working full time, year round typically make only 63 cents for every dollar paid to their white male counterparts. For Latinas, this figure is only 54 cents and for Native American women it is 58 cents.
- Nationally there is a gender wage gap in 98 percent of occupations.
- Over fifteen years, a typical woman in Nevada loses $499, 101 due to pay inequity.
- The loss of funds directly impacts retirement contributions, ultimately leading to more women of retirement age living at or below the poverty level.
Potential Solutions
-Strengthen our equal pay laws so that women are able to fight against discrimination.
-Raise the wages of women in low-wage jobs, raise the minimum wage and ensure tipped employees receive the minimum wage before tips are included.
-California limits the excuses employers can use to pay women less than they pay men to only a “bona fide factor other than gender,” such as education, training, or experience (as opposed to reasons based solely on gender stereotypes).
-Maryland prohibits employers from assigning or directing employees into less-favorable career tracks—known as “mommy tracking”—or withholding information about promotions.
-Massachusetts prohibits employers from asking potential employees about their salary history.
-Tennessee subjects employers who violate the law to high fines and damage payments, emphasizing the seriousness of a violation.
For further information, please utilize:
-Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR),
-National Women’s Law Center
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Stacey Shinn, Policy Director
Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada
203 S. Arlington Avenue, Reno, NV 89501
(815) 601-9998 | (775) 348-7557
NCWE Gender Equity Initiatives
Nevada Coalition for Women’s Equity
January 2017
PAID LEAVE
Background Information
A survey conducted on 1,022 American adults in May 2015 stated that 80% of adults surveyed favor the expansion of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to include paid leave. In that same year, the Nevada State legislature failed to pass a paid leave bill. United States workers spend more hours in the workplace than any nation in the world. Women disproportionately bear the burden of taking care of ill family members, therefore the issue of paid leave disproportionately affects women.
Impacts on Women in Nevada
In Nevada’s 78th legislative session paid leave bill AB259 failed to pass. It emphasized the need for paid sick leave accumulation for Nevada employees. Nevada is not the only state that does not mandate paid leave, however some Nevada employees are protected by the FMLA. While FMLA does require employers to allow for job protection in the event of a sick employee or employee family member, it does not guarantee paid sick leave. Ultimately this could be the difference between taking care of family or jeopardizing a paycheck.
Potential Solutions
-Utilize and study existing policy mechanisms in states with Paid Leave policies. Examples of states with existing paid leave programs: California, New Jersey, Rhode Island and most recently, New York.
-New York’s paid leave program is currently the most ambitious in the country. It is
expected to be fully phased into law by 2021. This program will give families up to
twelve weeks of paid leave, the strongest in the nation.
-After implementation in Rhode Island more than three quarters of the
claims for paid leave were to care for and bond with newborns. This law also allows for
up to four weeks of paid leave, but no less than seven days, to care for one’s own
disability or the illness of a family member.
For further information, please utilize:
-The Make it Work Campaign at
-Getting Paid While Taking Time by Megan Sholar
-AB259 the 78th Nevada State Legislature
Stacey Shinn, Policy Director
Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada
203 S. Arlington Avenue, Reno, NV 89501
(815) 601-9998 | (775) 348-7557
NCWE Gender Equity Initiatives
Nevada Coalition for Women’s Equity
January 2017
A FAIR MINIMUM WAGE
Background Information
Fair minimum wages are workers’ appropriate remuneration for the work they perform or piece of work they do. Workers must be paid the minimum wage for every hour worked on the basis of an equitable rate for each task or output of work. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25/hour, a wage that results in a low income. These workers struggle to support their families at or below the poverty level.
Impacts on Women
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, two thirds of minimum wage workers are women, and 54 percent of this population is 25 or older. Women of color represent 23% of female minimum wage workers. Because women are the majority of minimum-wage earners, increasing the minimum wage helps to close the gap in gender pay inequity.
-Paying workers a fair minimum wage reduces attrition rates in the workplace and provides financial stability for women and their families.
-Increases in consumer capacity reduces reliance on public subsidies, results in local growth, and thus benefits the economy overall. Increased minimum wages result in local growth. As evidence, the Associated Press reported in 2014, "In the 13 states that boosted their minimums at the beginning of the year, the number of jobs grew an average of 0.85 percent from January through June. The average for the other 37 states was 0.61 percent.”
Potential Solutions
-Will allow women to have more purchasing power helps promote the local economy.
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-We stand with the national Fight for 15 Movement
By means of legislative measures, we need to increase Nevada’s minimum wage to change women’s pay inequity and to increase job growth. Nevada needs to maximize women’s economic security by ending the stagnation in wages through fair public policy in the state. Advocating for a bill to raise the minimum wage for all employees will benefit women and help begin the fight for equal pay. Enacting a fair minimum wage in Nevada is a key step to creating equal pay for women.
For further information please utilize:
-Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics
-National Women’s Law Center
NCWE Gender Equity Initiatives
Nevada Coalition for Women’s Equity
January 2017
Affordable Child Care
Background Information
Quality childcare in the first five years of life lead to better learning and growth outcomes later on. The complexity of early childhood development is a network of influence from both inherent and environmental factors that are strongly impacted by the quality of care received. According to CAA, 700 neural connections are made each SECOND. Because of this, CAA emphasizes that “future learning, behavior and health” are dependent upon a high quality and nurturing environment when a child’s parents cannot be there.
-The cost of childcare in Nevada ranges from $10,324 for infants to $8,792 for toddlers
ages 3-4.
-Quality and affordable childcare in Nevada ranks reportedly near last (50th)
-School readiness in Nevada, which is defined as pre-school enrollment and readiness to
learn received a letter grade of “F.”
-Nevada child care subsidies currently serve only 3.21% of its eligible population.
Impacts on Women in Nevada
Childcare in the first five years of life is a major drain on monthly income. The pressure it places on working families creates immense financial and occupational strain, especially on working class single mothers. Creating an affordable and quality child care system in Nevada would help to ease some of the burden and stress that comes with locating and financing high quality early childhood education. Furthermore, ensuring that all young Nevadans are receiving a high quality education will yield better educational and health outcomes for generations to come.
Potential Solutions
-Childcare subsidy expansion
-Provide additional funding to expand child care subsidy expansions for single-parent
families in order to provide for job, educational or vocational endeavors.
-Require child care subsidies to be used at Nevada QRIS care programs to ensure high
quality care
-Quality rating improvement systems (QRIS)
-Further resources needed to implement an adequate quality rating system
-Gradual statewide expansion
- Implement background checks to exempt child care providers
-Expand background checks to child care providers at home care centers to ensure high
quality of care
-Childcare tax credits
-Tax credits are non-stigmatizing and work within a familiar system.
-Should be system building (easily integrated into existing system), accessible to taxpayers, financially rewarding enough to promote participation, and trackable (easily measurable).
-High quality workforce for high quality learning
-Increase financial subsidy for early childhood professionals to prevent poverty among
professionals. Doing so will also attract students and qualified individuals to the field.
*For further information, please consult the Children’s Advocacy Alliance’s 2017 Legislative Briefing Book
NCWE Gender Equity Initiatives
Nevada Coalition for Women’s Equity
January 2017
DOMESTIC WORKER’S BILL OF RIGHTS
Background Information & Impacts on Women
Historically domestic workers including nannies, childcare providers, caregivers to people with disabilities or seniors, housecleaners or other household workers have been excluded from basic state and federal labor rights. In the early 1900’s the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) intentionally excluded domestic workers as a privilege to Southern politicians. Bad public policy continues to oppress domestic workers. This problem has been compounded by isolation from the workforce and exposure to discrimination, unsafe working conditions and harassment. Many domestic workers have been forced to work long hours below minimum wage, denied overtime pay and benefits. According to a Study done by Dr. Appelbaum and the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, 93% of domestic workers are women. The vast majority of these women are the primary bread winners for their families. Katie Joaquin said, “This is part of the entrenched undervaluing of women’s work.” We need to combat this discrimination by improving working conditions for women in Nevada including domestic workers by implementing basic labor protections that are afforded to other workers.
Potential Solutions
We must correct this historic wrong in Nevada. We need to enact and enforce a policy in Nevada that removes the exclusion of domestic workers from fair labor laws. These protections should include the right to earn the minimum wage, get paid for overtime, take regular breaks, claim workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance, have healthy and safe work environments and have a solution for addressing discrimination, abuse, and harassment. Seven states have passed a domestic workers bill of rights thus far and given the dignity back to these women who so deserve it. It is time to end modern day slavery.
For further information please utilize:
-Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
-UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment
Stacey Shinn, Policy Director
Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada
203 S. Arlington Avenue, Reno, NV 89501
(815) 601-9998 | (775) 348-7557