Wage Gap Continues in Arkansas

Staff Report

An unprecedented analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data released today shows that the gender-based wage gap affects women in every corner of the state. In fact, in every district in Arkansas, there is a gap between the wages of women and men.

This is the first-ever analysis of these data by congressional district, providing a unique opportunity for Arkansas’s women, families and lawmakers to consider the local impact of disparities in pay.

The analysis was conducted by the National Partnership for Women & Families. The full analysis includes data for all 50 states and all 435 congressional districts in the country.

According to the analysis, the median yearly pay for women in Arkansas is $6,736 less than the median yearly pay for Arkansas men, or 82 cents for every dollar.

Nationally, full-time working women are paid only 77 cents for every dollar paid to full-time working men, according to Census data. According to the new analysis, the congressional districts with the largest gender-based pay differences are found in Louisiana, Virginia, New Jersey and West Virginia.

The districts with the largest wage gap are in southern Louisiana — women there are paid just 61 cents for every dollar paid to men.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act and establish stronger workplace protections for women. In the last two Congresses, the U.S. House of Representatives passed it, but it fell two votes short of moving forward in the Senate in 2010.

It was reintroduced in the current Congress but blocked by a procedural vote in June of this year.
The overall gender-based wage gap in Arkansas and the breakdown for each of the state’s congressional districts can be found here: http://www.nationalpartnership.org/site/PageNavigator/issues_work_wagegap_map_ar.html