Legislature(2021 - 2022)BARNES 124
05/05/2021 03:15 PM House LABOR & COMMERCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB21 | |
| HJR19 | |
| HB159 | |
| Presentation(s): Women in the Workforce & the Gender Pay Gap | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 159 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 21 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HJR 19 | TELECONFERENCED | |
[Contains discussion of HB 146.]
4:32:54 PM
CO-CHAIR FIELDS announced that the final order of business would
be a presentation on Women in the Workforce & the Gender Pay
Gap.
4:33:19 PM
KARINNE WIEBOLD, Economist, Research and Analysis,
Administrative Services Division, Department of Labor and
Workforce Development (DOLWD), presented a PowerPoint titled
"Women & the Pandemic" [hard copy included in the committee
packet]. She began her presentation with slide 2, which
displayed graphs showing the percentages of men and women in the
workforce, as well as corresponding average annual wages, over
the past 30 years. She pointed out that both average annual
wages and the workforce composition have been slowly converging,
with women now comprising 48 percent of the workforce; however,
she said, wages for women are still lagging behind those for
men. She said that the most significant change in the gender
pay gap has occurred in the last couple of years; for the past
20 years, she said, average wages for women have been 68 percent
of those for men, but it's recently risen to 72 percent.
MS. WIEBOLD presented slide 2, "Men Earn More in All Age
Groups," which displayed a graph showing the wage gap widening
with age. Teenage workers have a minimal wage gap, she said,
and as the compounding employment history of men and women
continues, the wage gap increases. She pointed out that
averages wages peak when women are in their forties, while men's
average wages continue to increase into their fifties before
showing a slight decline into their sixties. The largest wage
gap was among those between the ages of 50 and 59.
4:38:32 PM
MS. WIEBOLD moved to slide 4, "Men earn more at all education
levels," which displayed a graph showing average men's and
women's wages at various education levels. She pointed out that
all wages increase with more education, but that the wage gap
doesn't necessarily decrease; jobs that require only a high
school education demonstrate a 61 percent earnings ratio, but
positions that require a doctoral degree demonstrate a 70
percent earnings ratio. She said that in Alaska, women comprise
a larger percentage of positions that require higher education.
She then presented slide 5, "What does the national data tell us
about the pandemic, and what was happening before?", and said
that Alaska is not unique in the gender wage gap.
MS. WIEBOLD presented slide 6, "National Labor Force
Participation Rates," and noted that individuals are considered
part of the labor force if they are either working or looking
for work. She said that men's labor force participation has
been on a gradual decline over the past 20 years, with the past
10 years showing a more significant decline. Conversely, she
said, labor force participation among women has been increasing.
In 2020, she said, women's labor force participation rate
dropped from 58 to 54.5 percent, while the rate for men went
from 69 to 66 percent. Nationwide, she said, between January
2020 to January 2021, 1.8 million men left the labor force,
compared to 2.5 million women; the setback from the pandemic has
pushed women's labor force participation rate to that which was
last seen in 1987.
4:43:19 PM
MS. WIEBOLD presented slide 7, "Unemployment Rates," and
explained that women were hit harder by the immediate effects of
the pandemic and have experienced a slower recovery. She
pointed out that the unemployment rate for women was highest in
April 2020 at 16.1 percent, while the rate for men at the same
time was 13.6 percent. She then presented slide 8, "Where do
Alaskan women work?", which displayed a pie chart showing that
more than half of women work in state and local government,
healthcare, and private education. Trade, transportation, and
utilities, the sector which includes retail sales, was the third
largest segment.
MS. WIEBOLD presented slide 9, "Alaska lost 27,200 jobs in
2020," which displayed a pie chart showing job loss by industry.
The leisure and hospitality sector lost almost 10,000 jobs;
trade, transportation, and utilities, including retail sales,
lost 6,500 jobs. She noted that the leisure and hospitality
sector employs approximately even proportions of men and women;
however, the occupations within that sector that employ more
women than men, such as waitstaff and housekeeping, were hit
disproportionately hard by the pandemic. Government job losses,
she said, tended to be in the areas of local government and
schools, areas which tend to disproportionately employ women.
4:49:57 PM
MS. WIEBOLD presented slide 10, "Unemployment Insurance Claims-
something we can see now," which read as follows [original
punctuation provided]:
? Historically, more men than women file for
unemployment (60/40)
? Claims are record high for both
? Since the pandemic, more men than women have received
UI.
? BUT, women, as a percent of claimants, has grown more
than men
4:54:06 PM
LAURIE WOLF, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Foraker
Group, presented a PowerPoint titled "The Gender Pay Gap in
Alaska" [hard copy included in the committee packet]. She
shared that approximately 17 percent of Alaskans work for a
nonprofit organization, and that approximately 65 percent of the
employees are women, compared to the 48 percent workforce
participation rate for women in Alaska. She said that, despite
passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963, which mandated equal pay
for equal work, the gender pay gap persists in Alaska and
nationwide. She presented slide 2, "What's in a day?", and
pointed out that March 24 is Equal Pay Day in the United States,
which represents how far into the new year women would have to
work in order to make the same salary of their male counterparts
in the previous year. She said that the date shifts when
factoring in issues such as race or motherhood; Equal Pay Day is
March 9 for Asian and Pacific Islander women; August 3 for Black
women; September 8 for Native American women; and October 21 for
Latina women. She said that the impact of COVID-19 will hit
working mothers especially hard, as the lack of child care or
school closures force more women than men out of the workforce.
4:58:09 PM
MS. WOLF presented slide 3, "Too Long to Wait," which read as
follows [original punctuation provided]:
257 YEARS
At the current rate of change, the gender pay gap in
Alaska won't disappear until the year 2277.
MS. WOLF presented slide 4, "The Gender Pay Gap in Alaska,"
which showed that Alaskan women earn 72 cents for each dollar
men earn; in the nonprofit sector, women earn 79 cents. She
then presented slide 5, "The Gender Wage Gap is Real," which
displayed a graphic showing the average wages for men and women
in the nonprofit sector compared to for-profit wages. She then
presented slide 5, "Loss of Pay Over a Lifetime," stating that
the average women loses over $530,000 over her lifetime because
of the gender wage gap; the average college-educated woman loses
over $800,000 over a lifetime.
MS. WOLF presented slide 7, "Traditionally-Female Occupations
Pay Less," which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
The gender pay gap is smaller within traditionally-
female occupations, but traditionally-male occupations
pay higher wages. Only 6% of Alaska's female workers
are employed in traditionally-male occupations. For
nonprofits, the figure is only 2%.
MS. WOLF presented slide 8, "Why Legislation Matters," and she
stated that fair and equitable pay is the law in the U.S. Slide
8 read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
Steps you can take:
Publish pay ranges in job announcements.
Don't ask for an applicant's pay history.
Share total compensation not just the wage so all
employees understand the full value of benefits and
salary.
MS. WOLF said that HB 146, introduced during the House Labor and
Commerce Standing Committee meeting on April 23, would take
"monumental" steps in the right direction by establishing
provisions to prohibit certain workplace policies that could
lead to pay inequity, such as prohibiting employers from using
prior wages to determine future compensation, codifying the
right of employees to inquire about their co-workers'
compensation, and requiring employers to disclose the range of
salaries on job listings.
5:04:09 PM
HILARY MORGAN, President and Chief Executive Officer,
Resourceful Results, LLC, offered a PowerPoint presentation
titled "EconEquity; Gender Pay Gap in Alaska" [hard copy
included in the committee packet]. She presented slide 2,
"EconEquity," which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
• 1963. Equal Pay Act passes
• Women earned 59 cents on the dollar nationally.
• 2014. 51 years later
• Women earned 79 cents on the dollar nationally
MS. MORGAN presented slide 3, which read as follows [original
punctuation provided]:
• 2021. Nationally
• women earn 82 cents on the dollar.
• 2019. Alaska Economic Trends
• Alaska Women earned 72 cents on the dollar.
MS. MORGAN presented slide 4, which read as follows [original
punctuation provided]:
The pay disparity is more pronounced for women who are
Black, Indigenous or people of color; ranging
nationally from 55 cents for Latinx women to 63 cents
for Black women in 2021.
In Alaska, these figures are even lower.
MS. MORGAN noted that her data is somewhat outdated, and she
urged committee members to concentrate on the message. She
presented slide 6, which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
The pay gap has closed only 5¢ between 1990 and 2014.
Without action, Alaskan women won't have equal pay
until 2142.
MS. MORGAN presented slide 7, "Equal Pay Adds Up." She pointed
out that women are increasingly the primary earner, and are the
sole earner in 40 percent of U.S. households. She said that
it's estimated that closing the gender wage gap would decrease
the poverty rate for working women and their families by 50
percent; as women are increasingly the primary or sole earner in
their families, it's critical that women are paid equal to men.
5:08:10 PM
MS. MORGAN presented slide 8, which read as follows [original
punctuation provided]:
"We need to understand why there is a gap."
No. Act now and figure out why along the way.
"Well, you know men are stronger."
In 2017, Alaska female lawyers earned 77 cents
for every dollar their male counterpart earned.
MS. MORGAN presented slide 9, "The wage gap persists regardless
of industry," and slide 10, "Ratio of Women's to Men's Earnings
by Industry, Alaska 2010," which displayed a graph of industries
showing the array of Alaskan industries and their gender wage
gaps. She then presented slide 11, "The wage gap is present
within occupations," and slide 12, "Earnings gap smaller in
occupations dominated by women," which displayed a bar graph
showing female-dominated occupations. She pointed out that 89
percent of registered nurses are women, yet they earn only 95
percent of what male registered nurses earn.
MS. MORGAN presented slide 13, "The wage gap exists regardless
of education level," and slide 14, which displayed a graphic
showing that Alaskan women with a bachelor's degree are paid 63
percent of what men with the same education level are paid. She
stated that women with graduate or professional degrees are also
paid less than men with a bachelor's degree, and women with a
bachelor's degree are paid less than men with even lower
education levels. She said, "Unfortunately, in Alaska, women do
not see the same return to their education that men see."
MS. MORGAN presented slide 15, "Alaskan businesses and community
are ready for change," which read as follows [original
punctuation provided]:
Between May 2014 and January 2018, EconEquity asked
132 businesses, organizations, politicians and
individuals to endorse closing the gender pay gap in
Alaska by 2025.
Only 5 declined.
MS. MORGAN presented slide 16, which read as follows [original
punctuation provided]:
• EconEquity asked for demonstrated support through a
signed endorsement.
• The Endorsement asked only for 3 things of the
signer:
• an acknowledgement that the pay gap existed,
• that they stand with us as we eliminated the
gap,
• that is be signed by the CEO or Chairperson of
the Board.
MS. MORGAN presented slides 17-20, which listed dozens of
businesses and individuals who endorse gender pay equity. She
said that the list of endorsers are posted on the EconEquity
website, and the list of companies who decline to sign the
endorsement are listed once a year in the program of the
EconEquity Summit. She said that the simple act of asking a
company to endorse gender pay equity resulted in the company
becoming aware of their own gender pay equity status.
5:14:19
MS. MORGAN presented slide 21, "Women make less in every part of
Alaska," which displayed a map of Alaska's boroughs and showed
each borough's gender pay gap using data from 2019. She then
presented slide 22, which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
• The persistent wage gap between working men and
women is a barrier to women's success and to the
success of Alaska.
• When women are underpaid and undervalued, it is more
challenging for them to pay off student debt, provide
for their families, contribute to their communities,
and save for retirement.
• Women's options become limited and so does their
ability to strengthen our businesses and our state.
5:15:31 PM
CO-CHAIR FIELDS commented that two pieces of proposed
legislation, focusing on addressing child care issues and wage
disclosures, have been reported from the House Labor and
Commerce Standing Committee.
5:16:37 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SCHRAGE asked about the lack of maternity
policies and the effect on the gender pay gap.
5:17:05 PM
MS. MORGAN shared that one of the problems with not having equal
opportunities for maternity and paternity leave is that women
who take maternity leave often subsequently lose seniority in
the workplace. She said that this is a reason why single
mothers in Alaska earn less than single fathers, even when
controlling for the number of children. She said that by
offering paternity leave as well as maternity leave, companies
may begin to level the playing field.
MS. WOLF added that as of 2018, a mother's wage decreases
approximately 4 percent per child, while a father's wage
increases approximately 8 percent. She said that, as of three
years after childbirth, only 28 percent of mothers work full
time or are self-employed, compared to 90 percent of fathers.
She encouraged committee members to consider the concept of
"family leave" as opposed to "maternal or paternal leave," due
to the likelihood of women being in the position of caring for
parents as well as children.
REPRESENTATIVE SCHRAGE noted the 8 percent increase of wages for
fathers, and he asked why a father's wage would increase after
having children.
MS. WOLF replied that there is research showing that men are, in
general, better advocates for pay increases and are encouraged
to negotiate for better pay. She discussed bias around the idea
that men, as opposed to women, need to provide for their
families.
5:20:34 PM
CO-CHAIR FIELDS added, "The literature does indicate that
employers see the necessity of fathers providing for their
children, and are actually very willing to give them wage
increases, but don't have that same inclination with women."
5:20:51 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SNYDER shared her agreement with the idea of
"family leave" and pointed out that her maternity leave was
unpaid and limited to six weeks.
5:22:12 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MCCARTY shared that his son-in-law is a stay-at-
home father. He asked for copies of the research.
MS. WOLF replied that the research is published on The Foraker
Group website and that there are links to additional studies.
5:23:27 PM
CO-CHAIR FIELDS commented on the value of paid family leave.
5:23:53 PM
CO-CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ mentioned that committee members have copies
of studies of the gender pay gap by education and occupation.
She said, "What we know now is that the gender pay gap starts
from the first job ... and then it builds on itself over the
course of a career." She said that it's always been supposed
that more education would solve the problem, but that studies
show that women need doctorate degrees in order to earn as much
as a man with a bachelor's degree. She commented that fields
dominated by women earn less than those dominated by men, and
that even in fields dominated by women, men earn more and
advance more quickly. She said women were overrepresented in
fields that were disproportionately affected by the COVID-19
pandemic, and that when there is an issue with child care, the
rational decision is that the parent who earns less money is the
parent who will stay home with the kids. She said that even
women who weren't in occupations impacted by the pandemic tended
to leave the workplace to care for their children. She pointed
out that the policy changes recommended by Ms. Wolf align with
the legislation proposed in HB 146, sponsored by Representative
Snyder.
5:29:02 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Labor and Commerce Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at
5:29 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 21 Amendment #1 5.4.21.pdf |
HL&C 5/5/2021 3:15:00 PM |
SB 21 |
| SB 21 Statement of Zero Fiscal Impact 3.5.21.pdf |
HL&C 5/5/2021 3:15:00 PM |
SB 21 |
| DOLWD Gender Pay Gap Presentation 5.5.21.pdf |
HL&C 5/5/2021 3:15:00 PM |
|
| HB 159 Ad Trade Letter of Opposition 4.22.21.pdf |
HL&C 5/5/2021 3:15:00 PM HL&C 5/12/2021 3:15:00 PM |
HB 159 |
| CS HJR19 (L&C) Fiscal Note.pdf |
HL&C 5/5/2021 3:15:00 PM |
HJR 19 |
| CS HJR19 (L&C).pdf |
HL&C 5/5/2021 3:15:00 PM |
HJR 19 |
| Gender Pay Testimony House Labor Commerce - Foraker Group 5-5-2021.pdf |
HL&C 5/5/2021 3:15:00 PM |
|
| Gender Wage Gap - Hilary Morgan 5.5.21.pdf |
HL&C 5/5/2021 3:15:00 PM |
|
| DOLWD Analysis - The Gender Wage Gap, September 2019.pdf |
HL&C 5/5/2021 3:15:00 PM |
|
| Alaska Economic Trends - The Gender Wage Gap, 2017.pdf |
HL&C 5/5/2021 3:15:00 PM |