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Capitol View®
Catharine Richert

PoliGraph: Pappas stats about women workers correct

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This week, the Minnesota Senate passed legislation that’s meant to address pay disparities and protect women in the workplace.

Among other things, the legislation would require companies with government contracts to certify that they pay men and women equally, and require employers to be more flexible with pregnant and nursing mothers.

State Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, sponsored the bill. She argued on the Senate floor that protecting female employees is critical for the economy because their salaries are more and more likely to their household’s primary source of income.

“Fifty percent of the state’s working mothers are the primary breadwinner for their family, as the sole earner or earning more than their spouse,” Pappas said.

She went on to add that, “the pay gap is stuck at about 20 percent, that is women earning 80 percent of what men do on average.”

Both those statistics are correct.

The Evidence

According to a joint research effort between the University of Minnesota Humphrey School’s Center on Women & Public Policy and the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, roughly 51 percent of working mothers were the primary breadwinner in their families in 2012.

That figure increases for some demographic groups.

For instance, 80 percent of American Indian mothers are their family’s primary breadwinner, while 77 percent of African American mothers are their family’s primary breadwinner. Roughly 46 percent of white mothers are the primary financial supporters for their families.

Several sources also underscore that the earnings ratio between men and women is about 80 percent. Pappas used the word “pay gap” to describe the difference, which would actually be about 20 percent.

The Verdict

Pappas has her statistics right. This claim earns an accurate.