It's Time to Talk About the Wage Gap Facing Trans Women
The wage gap. Real yet mystified. There is still a large number of people who refuse to acknowledge that wage gaps exist as a result of discrimination. But we know it exists. It has been proven time and time again by numerous studies. While the cause is still highly debated among researchers, the problem itself is not.
The common gaps you hear about on the news are between women and men, white people and people of color, and the young and elderly. While these inequalities are important and deserve to be solved, they are certainly not the only ones out there. Some less talked-about gaps are more prevalent than the greatest hits. One is the crushing, grossly inappropriate gap between non-LGBTQ adult workers and transgender women.
This issue is only just starting to hit the headlines in recent years. Forbes released an article by Jamie Wareham (Founder of QueerAF) in November of 2021 titled “Transgender Pay Gap Revealed: Cisgender People Paid 32% More”. During my research for this blog, 99.9% of the articles I found were about the wage gap between cisgender women and men. And yes, I went to the second page of Google.
Other news sites seem to shy away from or barely include trans women in their coverage. Now, this is true for every topic. Trans women are hidden figures in the media, even when the story is supposedly about them. I say this to say…while disappointed, I am not surprised that basic-level research on this topic came up fruitless (minus the Forbes article. Thank you, Jamie!).
Of course, I went beyond news sites for research. I disdain to use them in the first place. But, I point out this lack of news coverage to show you that while the gender wage gap is a hot topic of debate, transgender women are absent from the scene. This lack of public interest equates to a lack of professional interest and less funding for proper research and solutions.
Luckily, there is some research into the topic (or how else would I write this blog!). In an article by the HRC, their research claimed that transgender women earn only 60 cents for every dollar the average worker makes in the United States, the widest wage gap among all LGBTQ+ people.
For comparison, transgender men were found to earn 70 cents for every dollar the typical U.S. worker makes. LGBTQ+ women still earn less than LGBTQ+ men but more than transgender women, at 87 cents per dollar. LGBTQ+ men overall had the smallest gap, at 96 cents for every dollar.
Cents do not seem like much at first (who even uses pennies anymore?), but it adds up. Say you have Wendy, a cisgender straight woman working full-time for an IT company as a data entry specialist. Her co-worker is Jane, a transgender woman who holds the same position and joined the company in the same batch of interns as her. Both women have a Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology. In other words, they are on equal footing professionally and academically.
The job posting quoted a pay range of $12.00 - $20.00 per hour based on experience. Wendy and Jane both have no prior related experience besides formal education. After the internship, Wendy is offered $20.00/hour, but Jane is offered $12.00/hour. For the non-math geeks out there, 20 multiplied by 0.60 is 12, so Jane is paid 60 cents for each dollar Wendy is paid. Yearly, assuming they work 40 hours a week, Wendy will make $41,600. Jane will only make 24,960. That is a 40% wage gap.
If Jane finds out and asks the company why, the company will likely do one of three things:
Feign ignorance and ignore Jane.
Claim Wendy is better at her job, but without providing examples.
Attempt to remedy the situation (best case scenario, but likely done to avoid a lawsuit. If they cared, they would have never done it in the first place).
Now, this example is by no means perfect. I conjured it up at 10 PM on a Tuesday while eating a bagel (don’t judge me). And I have never claimed to be the best at math. But it works and is still a good enough example of this inequality. Cents become tens of thousands of dollars over time - money that could be used to pay for health care, housing, living expenses, childcare, or further education.
Wage gaps impact all of these life elements. It is one of the reasons that transgender women are more likely to face food insecurity, homelessness, poverty, and health concerns. As the saying goes, it is expensive to be poor. People experiencing poverty go into more debt to simply live. They are more vulnerable to economic crises and sudden financial emergencies such as sky-high hospital bills and rental spikes. The COVID-19 pandemic shined a light on this inequality.
Calvin Schuster and Claudia Taccheri of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine wrote an article on that particular topic. It stated:
“The transgender community has been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 due to disrupted access to gender-affirming care that stems from disruptions in all health care, restrictions on certain surgeries, and increased economic disparities.”
Knowing all this, you are probably wondering what is being done to close the gap and support transgender women already impacted by this issue. One way that The Advocates for LGBTQ+ Equality is working to combat this issue is by encouraging and fostering inclusivity, equality, and diversity in the workforce through DEI events with corporations nationwide. We believe that educating companies on LGBTQ+ issues and showing them how to take proactive actions to prevent inequality in their workplace is a critical tool in the fight for equality.
Other organizations, such as the Human Rights Campaign, have programs that work to expand inclusive employment practices. Another popular route is providing resources for employers to help them implement equal benefits and fair policies. To help transgender women receive immediate relief without relying on their employers, certain foundations and socially conscious corporations offer financial aid and grants. Check out our resource page for more information.
You can fight against economic inequality by joining The Advocates for LGBTQ+ Equality! We have volunteer opportunities to engage with, merch to show your support (90% of merch proceeds go toward our community projects), and Impactful Actions.
If you have experienced wage inequality as a transgender woman, we’d love to elevate your story on our blog or podcast. Reach out to us to share your story.
Sources:
Transgender Pay Gap Revealed: Cisgender People Paid 32% More (forbes.com)
The Wage Gap Among LGBTQ+ Workers in the United States - Human Rights Campaign (hrc.org)
The Gay and Transgender Wage Gap - Center for American Progress
Gender Economic Inequality - Inequality.org
Workplace Equality Program - HRC Foundation (thehrcfoundation.org)
LGBTQ+ Adults Report Struggles with Food, Housing and Mental Well-Being (stlouisfed.org)
