Texas wage-gap woes: How D-FW counties compare and why women in their 40s might be fuming

Will you still be working when the gender pay gap finally closes?
Although Lone Star women have made progress, they still fall way short when it comes to earning the same pay as men for comparable jobs.
If trends hold steady, they might have to wait more than three decades to catch up, according to a study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research in partnership with the Dallas Women’s Foundation. So working women over the age of 40 may be out of luck.

Little progress

Texas women who work in full-time, year-round jobs have seen little to no headway when it comes to annual pay and closing the gender gap. The good news is that a greater share of Lone Star women hold manager or professional jobs.

Universally lopsided

The wage gap in median annual full-time earnings is persistent for all races and ethnicities.

“If women in Texas were paid the same as comparable men, their average annual earnings increase would be $7,300. That’s a relatively small price to pay to impact the 17.3 percent of Dallas County women 18 and over living in poverty, whose increases in pay would pour back into our economy for groceries, children’s school supplies, health care and housing.” 
Roslyn Dawson Thompson, CEO at Dallas Women’s Foundation

Regional disparities

The gender wage gap is smallest in Dallas County, where women earn 92.6 percent as much as men. But women living in Dallas County make far less and hold fewer managerial and professional jobs than their counterparts in Collin and Denton counties. The pay gap is widest for women in Collin County, but they make more money than women in the other two North Texas counties.

“Pay equality for working women in Texas would halve poverty and add $44 billion in additional wage and salary income to the Texas economy. There are few public policy proposals that would accomplish that level of poverty reduction and economic growth.” 
Julie Anderson, senior research associate at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research

What if women were paid like men?

There’s a poverty punch to society. Texas would have half as many working women living in poverty if they were paid as much as men.

“We seem to be running in place on this issue, and I can’t figure out why when I see the depth of female talent. Let’s hope employers take this report to heart and that women assume great levels of authority to springload change faster than current trend lines portend. I’ll be 97 — if I’m lucky — in 2049 and too old to care.”
Cheryl Hall, Business columnist, The Dallas Morning News