Latinas still face disparities when it comes to the pay gap

AUSTIN (KXAN) — For every dollar a white, non-Hispanic male makes, Latinas are paid 55 cents. Latinas have to work almost 11 additional months into the next year to be paid as much as their white male counterparts for doing the same exact job, according to the economic policy institute.

Bringing that difference in pay, commonly called the wage gap, to light is a primary part of promoting Latina Equal Pay Day, which falls on Oct. 29. That day signifies how far into 2019 Latinas would have to work to earn as much as their white male counterparts in the previous year, according to Equal Pay Today.

Johanna Moya Fábregas is the Executive Director of Con Mi Madre, a nonprofit organization founded in 1992 that supports young Latinas and their mothers, keeping both generations engaged in a successful future.

When Con Mi Madre was created, Latinas had about a 1% chance of graduating from college.

“The idea is that by supporting mothers and their daughters, that we're able to empower them to dream high, to establish and to help them reach those goals through that empowerment,” Fábregas said.

According to Fábregas, there are problems in society that contribute to the wage gap.

“There's implicit bias, you have institutional disparities. You have policies and other ways to address that issue,” she said.

The gap hits educated Latinas, too. According to Know Your Value contributor Daniela Pierre-Bravo, “The more educated you are as a Latina, you're punished more when it comes to the gender pay gap.”

At Con Mi Madre, women and their daughters go through an educational process together from 6th grade to college, to prepare young Latinas for the rest of their careers.

Con Mi Madre teaches young Latinas to “advocate for themselves,” as Fábregas puts it.

“We teach from a very young age the importance of advocating for yourself, and not from a perspective of arrogance but from a perspective of understanding your value to society,” Fábregas said. “So when you're approaching any setting as a young Latina, from the stance of the value that you're bringing to the table, and you're thinking ‘I'm worth it, but also I deserve it, because I have a positive impact on those around me. And in order to have that I need to be recognized as such,’ then it changes the game and it changes the mentality.”

According to National Partnership, more than half of Latina mothers are the sole breadwinners for their household, so they have to rely completely on their income to support their families. Eliminating the wage gap would provide income for those families.

Despite the many obstacles Latinas face, Fábregas has hope for the future.

“The fact that I'm here to speak to you as, as the executive director of an organization, I wouldn't have been in this position 200 years ago. There were laws, there were very clear barriers in place. So to change that takes time, but I believe 100% that it’s possible.”