Letter: When all women thrive, our community thrives

Every year, we recognize Black Women’s, Native Women’s, and Latina Women’s Equal Pay Day — when women’s pay in each group finally catches up to what white, non-Hispanic men made the previous year. This year, Latina Equal Pay Day is Nov. 20.

This means Latina women must work nearly an entire additional year to earn what white men earned just in 2018. More than half a century after the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Hispanic women earn, on average, half of what white men do.

This wage gap is unacceptable, and it hurts our families and communities — especially in Miami-Dade, which is nearly 70 percent Hispanic. Yet research shows over half of Americans don’t even know the gender pay gap exists or that it’s worse for women of color. We must work harder to shine a light on these disparities and fight for equal opportunity for all families.

I was proud to sponsor legislation creating a yearly report benchmarking gender equity and women’s economic opportunity in Miami-Dade, and requiring that all county vendors sign an equal pay affidavit.

Although male-owned businesses still outnumber female-owned firms in our county, women-led small businesses are growing at a faster rate. For example, in District 8, we invest in women and minority-owned businesses through our incubator Accelerate South Dade, the first of its kind in the county.

Our economy continues to leave women, and especially women of color, behind. But closing the pay gap will have enormous positive impact: Research shows that paying women equally adds more than $500 billion annually to the national income and cuts in half poverty in families with a working woman. We must educate, advocate, and lead with smart reforms at the local level. Learn more at https://www.latinaequalpay.org/.

Daniella Levine Cava,

commissioner,

Miami-Dade County