Giving employers legal permission to impose more limits on discussing compensation than on talking about the Seahawks or the weather, as Senate Bill 5344 proposes, takes us backwards. We know the stats – at every age, education level, in nearly every…
Washington legislators are now considering salary history legislation (HB 1533), sponsored by Rep. Laurie Dolan (D-Olympia), that would prohibit employers from asking applicants, during the initial interview, what their wages were in previous jobs. (Employers could get that information once they…
For the past six years of my life I’ve dedicated my professional life to women’s equity issues. I was an instrumental part of a team that helped develop and eventually pass a paid sick days ordinance in Seattle in 2011.…
From high-profile CEOs and movie stars to healthcare and retail workers, men consistently make more than women. Social scientists and economists have found clear evidence that gender-based discrimination persists – and is so deeply ingrained in culture and practice that…
The inequalities of gender, race and income that plague U.S. society directly impact the lives of King County’s older residents. Income in retirement is based on earlier earnings, and so reflects inequities in educational and employment opportunity. A lifetime of…
Testimony by Marilyn Watkins on ESHB 1646, Equal Pay and Opportunities Act, Senate Commerce and Labor Committee, February 26, 2016 Good morning. I’m Marilyn Watkins with the Economic Opportunity Institute, speaking in opposition to the striking amendment on House Bill…
[Cross-posted from Equalisea] “I’ve been taking copious notes!” smiled Washington State Senator Karen Kaiser. On July 8, I was at a “salon,” a panel with a small audience, about economic security for women in Washington State, and it appeared the…
Women’s work is central to our economy. Most households couldn’t make ends meet without women’s income. Yet, women make less than men across every occupation. Because employers find ways to pay women less, families struggle to pay their bills, and…
By Marilyn Watkins, Ph.D and Sam Hatzenbeler, MPHc From high-profile CEOs and movie stars to healthcare and retail workers, men consistently make more than women. Social scientists and economists have found clear evidence that gender-based discrimination persists – and is…
Back in 1943, when women flocked into the workforce to help win World War II, Washington State banned paying women less than men for similar work. Now 70 years later, women’s pay still trails behind men’s. Women make up almost…
