A recent study ranks Hawaii No. 1 in the country for women’s equality. But some women’s rights advocates have doubts.
WalletHub, a Washington, D.C.-based personal finance website, identified the most gender-equal states in the country in observance of National Women’s Equality Day on Friday.
The company scored states using 15 measures, including gender gaps among lawmakers, worker pay disparity, unemployment rate differences and educational attainment gaps.
Hawaii has the smallest pay gap in the nation among male and female workers, according to WalletHub.
The study doesn’t provide additional analysis. However, an April report from the National Partnership for Women and Families shows women in Hawaii are paid an average of 86 cents for every dollar earned by white males, though that number is lower among Latina and Asian women.Nationally, women earn about 79 cents for every dollar earned by white men.
Hawaii also scored high in “political empowerment” — defined as the gender disparity among elected officials. WalletHub similarly didn’t provide specific numbers. However, information on the state Legislature website shows about 47 percent of 2016 state senators and 35 percent of House representatives were female. And this month’s primary election results revealed the incoming Hawaii County Council will inevitably contain six women and three men. Currently, there are five councilmen and four councilwomen.
Some women’s rights advocates question the WalletHub study for its lack of analysis. Kathy Ferguson, University of Hawaii women studies professor who contributed to a question-answer portion of the WalletHub study, said she’d like to see more information about the jobs sampled and “what life is like for the people who actually do them.”
“If it’s contract labor, with no benefits, that’s the needed context for data like this,” Ferguson said.
Farrah Marie-Gomes, chairwoman for the Hawaii County Committee on the Status of Women, said she wanted to know if Hawaii’s cost of living was factored into the pay gap score. And she said there are other issues just as important as the pay gap — for example, low voter turnout statewide. Women’s Equality Day was originally established to commemorate female suffrage, she added.
On Friday, more than 350 women ranging from college students to stay-at-home moms to working professionals attended the second annual Hawaii Island Women’s Leadership Summit at the Hilton Waikoloa Village.
Marie-Gomes, chairperson for the summit, said it was a chance to “empower women through knowledge, strength and equality.” Attendees took part in workshops throughout the day and heard from a keynote speaker.
“I take these kinds of results with a grain of salt,” Marie-Gomes said. “… I do know we have made some gains in Hawaii; I wouldn’t call them significant gains, but they’ve been steady gains, and it’s something we need to stay focused on.”
Lawmakers mulled a bill earlier this year that would have amended the law in an attempt to close the state’s gender pay gap even more. The bill would have required employees performing “substantially similar” work to be paid equally and prohibited prospective employers from requesting a job applicant’s prior wage or salary history in the job application process. The bill died in committee.
WalletHub ranked Alaska No. 2 in the study, followed by Maine. Utah came in last.
The full study can be found at tinyurl.com/WalletHubWomensEquality.
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
