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Perhaps never before has the Columbus Women’s Commission observance of Equal Pay Day carried such significance. On this day, March 24, 2021, women in our country, and in our community, continue to suffer the disproportionate economic devastation brought by the coronavirus pandemic. It is on top of existing wage disparities that leave women behind financially.
Black and Latina women are bearing a greater burden, as the observance of Black Women’s Equal Pay Day and Latina Equal Pay Day later this year demonstrates. All three of these days signify how long into the current year it takes women to earn what their male counterparts earned in the previous year.
Since Mayor Ginther and I launched the Women’s Commission in early 2017, equity in the workplace has been a key focus area to bring about inclusive prosperity. Women cannot achieve economic security when workplace and other barriers prevent its reach.
Single women in Central Ohio own just 40 cents for every $1 owned by a single man, a Women’s Fund of Central Ohio report found. For women of color, the comparable amount owned is woefully worse: only 8 cents on the dollar for Black women and 2 cents for Hispanic women.
Many local employers support the Women’s Commission’s efforts to close the gender wage gap. Since 2017, more than 270 have voluntarily signed the Columbus Commitment: Achieving Pay Equity to commit to playing a role in closing the wage gap and addressing workplace policies that limit women’s economic opportunities.
The employer-led Columbus Commitment pledge has prompted honest conversations and collaborative learnings about gender wage inequity and why it exists. As a result of taking the pledge, adopters have worked to better understand the economic impact of pay inequity and implicit bias — and implement solutions to level the playing field. Many have taken actions such as implementing paid leave policies, removing salary history from job applications, and instituting pay transparency and pay analysis.
Unfortunately, the harsh economic impact of COVID-19 is reversing women’s labor force progress. During the past year, millions of women in the U.S. have lost their jobs, or been forced to leave them due to family demands and the lack of child care and paid leave. Women’s participation rate in the labor force has dropped to its lowest level in 33 years.
An economic recovery cannot successfully occur unless women out of the workforce are brought back in, and women who remain employed continue to retain their jobs. Equitable workplace policies are a must.
The Women’s Commission encourages local employers to fully understand the economic value of gender equity in the workplace as we work together to rebound from the harsh impacts of COVID-19.
Join the Columbus Commitment to work toward eliminating workplace disparities. And support the work of Mayor Ginther’s Recovery and Resiliency Advisory Committee, which is focused on an economic recovery that is inclusive and promotes shared prosperity for all Columbus residents.
 
March 24 is Equal Pay Day. Nearly one quarter into this year, today marks how long women have had to work into 2021 to catch up to what their white male counterparts earned in 2020.
Women earn just 82 cents for every dollar a man earns, according to a 2018 Census data analysis by the Center for American Progress. For women of color, the gap is even wider. Black women earn just 62 cents and Hispanic women 52 cents for every dollar a man earns.
And, the National Women’s Law Center reports, women experience a gender wage gap in 94 percent of occupations, including both low and high-wage jobs.
Though women make up more than half of the U.S. labor force and have made gradual gains to narrow the wage gap, any progress has come undone from the devastating economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Loss of employment and wages has been staggering for women and minorities.
Since February 2020, women have lost more than 5.3 million net jobs — representing the majority of pandemic-related losses, an NWLC analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicates. In January, the total number of women who have left the labor force since the pandemic started reached 2.3 million, compared to 1.8 million men. Women’s labor force participation hit its lowest level in more than three decades.
The current unemployment rate of 5.9% for women would actually be 8.8% if it accounted for women who have left the workforce due to the pandemic, the NWLC calculates. For Black women, it would be 14.1% and for Latinas it would be 13.1%.
The “shecession” has set women back decades, with pandemic-related job losses disproportionately affecting them at the same time that many have had to leave their jobs to care for their children when schools and daycares closed.
As our country and our community chart an economic recovery, the path must be equitable and inclusive, and directly address the wage gap that has left women and minorities behind. Other solutions should ensure accessible and affordable child care and paid family leave.
The One Million Black Women initiative announced this month by Goldman Sachs will invest more than $10 billion over the next 10 years to advance racial equity and economic opportunity for Black women.
To address the gender and racial biases Black women have disproportionately faced for decades, the One Million Black Women initiative will drive investment in housing, healthcare, access to capital, education, job creation and workforce development, digital connectivity, and financial health.
The median single Black woman owns 92% less net wealth than the median single white man.
Goldman Sachs will commit $10 billion in direct investment capital and $100 million in philanthropic capital, working with partners that include Black women-led organizations and financial institutions. Investment will be done through direct investing and grants to address the barriers to opportunity that Black women face.
“I know people who are not Black women — they got loans based on projections. I feel like I jump through more hoops just to get access to capital," Letha Pugh, owner of Columbus bakery Bake Me Happy, told Axios in a story here on the new initiative.
Pugh was a member of Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses program, providing access to education, capital, and business support services to help entrepreneurs create jobs and economic opportunity.
The goal of One Million Black Women is to impact the lives of at least 1 million Black women by 2030.
Read more about the initiative and how partnering with Goldman Sachs helped Pugh grow her business here.
Today, the City of Columbus and the national Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund) announced their selection to receive more than two years of funding and technical support to implement proven financial empowerment programming in Columbus. In 2021 Columbus will receive support to develop a plan for investing in free, professional, one-on-one financial counseling as a public service to residents, particularly of need as they deal with the financial impacts of COVID-19. Columbus is one of 35 local governments across the country that are working with the CFE Fund to offer this proven model developed initially by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in New York City in 2008.
“The global pandemic exposed the depth of the racial divide in our community, and we know that we will only recover if we do so equitably,” said Mayor Andrew J. Ginther. “Which is why financial counseling is so critically important at this time and why I am committed to moving this work forward as part of my Equity Agenda.”
The CFE Fund, with support from seed funder Bloomberg Philanthropies, as well as Capital One, the Citi Foundation, The JPB Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and the Wells Fargo Foundation, is working to expand the Financial Empowerment Center (FEC) model to local governments across the country. The CFE Fund provides grant support, intensive technical assistance, and a vibrant national learning community to help local government partners plan, launch, and sustain financial counseling services for their residents. The CFE Fund recently supported its FEC partners in pivoting to offering entirely remote services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This grant is a natural next step as we work to level the playing field for every family in our community through last year’s release of the Financial Empowerment Roadmap and the previous launch of the Financial Navigator program,” said City Council President Pro Tempore Elizabeth Brown. “We continue to be motivated by the fact that women and woman-headed families—particularly women of color—experience the greatest financial vulnerability of all Columbus residents.”
Columbus is one of five municipal governments selected to receive a grant and intensive technical assistance to prepare to launch a local plan for increasing financial counseling access through the national FEC Public platform, which promotes scale and sustainability for the growing movement of professional, one-on-one financial counseling as a free public service. First piloted in New York City under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in 2008, the FECs have worked with over 116,000 clients, helping them reduce individual debt by over $160 million, and increasing their families’ savings by over $26 million. A CFE Fund evaluation showed that this program works even for residents with very low incomes and other complex financial challenges.
Columbus joins Dallas, TX; Jackson, TN; Louisville, KY; and Pueblo, CO in receiving this grant award. This new cohort joins 30 other local governments already working to offer FEC services.
“Financially strong families mean a financially strong city—and the connection is clearer than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Jonathan Mintz, President and CEO of the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund. “Mayor Ginther and Council President Pro Tem Brown join local leaders across the country who are turning to professional, high-quality financial counseling as a critical tool to build residents’ financial stability by reducing debt, improving credit, building savings, and more.”
“Giving more Americans access to financial planning guidance will help build stronger and more equitable cities and drive pandemic recovery,” said James Anderson, head of the Government Innovation Programs at Bloomberg Philanthropies. “The data shows that this evidence-based program works and can be scaled. It is our goal is to continue to provide local leaders with the expertise and tools they need to empower residents.”
About the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund)
The CFE Fund supports municipal efforts to improve the financial stability of households by leveraging opportunities unique to local government. By translating cutting edge experience with large scale programs, research, and policy in cities of all sizes, the CFE Fund assists mayors and other local leaders to identify, develop, fund, implement, and research pilots and programs that help families build assets and make the most of their financial resources. The CFE Fund is currently working in over 100 cities and counties representing 75 million people, and has disbursed over $52 million to city governments and their partners to support these efforts. For more information, please visit https://cfefund.org/.
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