The Indiana Institute for Working Families announces the release of Wages, Wealth, & Poverty: Where Hoosier Women Stand & Ways Our State Can Close the Gaps. The report uses national, state, and county level data on earnings, assets, and poverty rates to shine a light on women’s financial well-being in Indiana.
“Even as the United States’ gender wage gap decreased in 2016, Indiana’s wage gap increased two percentage points to 26 percent. Women of color and women with disabilities fare even worse,” says Institute policy analyst Erin Macey. “It’s time to take bold action to close these wage, wealth, and poverty gaps.”
Beyond discussing the sources of gender wage gaps, this report makes connections to the consequences of failing to close the gap: namely, that women may be less likely to build wealth, which is essential to weathering financial shocks and enjoying a secure retirement, and more likely to experience poverty. Suggested state policy solutions would address the gaps by giving women the tools to combat pay discrimination, resolving caregiver-worker tensions, improving equity in education, and giving Hoosier women a raise.
