To the editor:

Laws already on the books, both in New York state and nationally, mandate that Equal Pay Day for all women should be Dec. 31. But it’s not.

In 2020, the average woman works until March 31 to earn what the average white man earned the previous year. Equal pay laws haven’t closed the pay gap.

Just as critical as equal pay alone is access to better jobs and living wage jobs. So, too, for families, is access to affordable and quality child care.

Living-wage jobs are out of reach for many New Yorkers. Ninety percent of the jobs in New York pay less than $32,000 a year, according to the Albany-based New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals.

And while unemployment numbers are low nationally, they mask a stark reality: 44% of workers in low-paying part-time and temporary work with no benefits, or security, bring home less than $18,000 a year. Many middle-class and union blue-collar jobs eliminated in the Great Recession of 2008-09 were replaced by these low-wage jobs.

Complicating life for families is the unpredictable and irregular scheduling that many hourly wage earners face. Non-standard child-care hours are nearly impossible to find.

Collectively, women in New York state lose $17 billion a year due to the pay gap alone. How many additional billions are lost through the employment opportunity gap?

In 1920, when women finally gained the right to vote, those who fought for women’s equality for decades certainly thought their struggle was over. Clearly there is still much work to be done.

Barbara Thomas

League of Women Voters of Saratoga County

Saratoga Springs