Where are the women? These four women leaders weigh

White women earned 79 cents, while Asian American and Pacific Islander women earned 85 cents. Worse still are black women, who earn 63 cents, while Latinos earn 55 cents and Native American women earn 60 cents. This is according to a report by the National Women’s Law Center, which based its estimates on average income data for full-time, year-round workers from the Census Bureau.

So, what’s next for women? CNN Business asked four women leaders for their opinion on where things are and their hopes for what is to come.

On the gender pay gap

Fatima Goss Graves, president and executive director of the National Women’s Law Center

Even before the pandemic, the wage gap often hurt women by more than $ 10,000 a year. These lost gains are now intensifying the economic repercussions of the pandemic-induced recession, robbing women and their families of a financial cushion when they need it most. In the coming months and years, as women who have lost jobs look for work, there is a risk of a widening wage gap, as many will feel the pressure to accept the first offer – often at a lower level than they were before – simply because they don’t have the savings to expect anything better.

Kim Churches, CEO of the American Association of University Women

We are not in a good place and I fear that things are, at best, at a standstill or, at worst, declining. Women suffered more layoffs and job losses during the pandemic because many work in retail and services. And many other women were forced to leave their jobs because of care requirements. When starting economic recovery plans, we need to address the systemic issues that cause the gender pay gap. Until Covid-19, women were making great strides, but the pandemic pushed back all of our hard-earned progress. We need to redouble our efforts to achieve parity and demand change now.

Rachel Thomas, co-founder and CEO of LeanIn.org

The wage gap harms all women, but it is also crucial to recognize that it harms some women far more than others. Latinas and black women are facing huge systemic barriers. They are overrepresented in low-paid jobs that do not offer essential benefits, such as paid holidays. Many struggle with the cost of child care, which has almost doubled in the past two decades. And they face discriminatory lending practices that make it harder to accumulate wealth. Fixing this will require real systemic change. Business leaders need to close the gender and race pay gap once and for all. And policymakers need to raise the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour, make daycare much more affordable and affordable, and provide paid national family leave to all employees.

Dr. C. Nicole Mason, President and CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research

The gender pay gap continues to affect women’s long-term economic security and well-being. Since 1985, the gap has narrowed by only about 18 percentage points. This is icy. At this rate, it will take more than 40 years to eliminate wage disparities. For black and Latino women, it will take more than a century. What this means is that my daughter and the daughter of my daughter’s daughters will not see equal pay in their lives. Women earn less than men in almost all professions. This is true for professions dominated by women and for professions dominated by men.

About women in leadership

Churches: Of course, we have made some notable gains. Today, America elected a female vice president; the most powerful person in Congress is a woman; the number of women running Fortune 500 companies reached an all-time high of 37. But come on – this is far from equity! Women make up about half of the workforce and we are still a long way from holding half of leadership positions in all sectors. We need a culture change and to be proactive in removing the barriers and prejudices that prevent women from taking leadership positions in all fields.

Serious: Promoting solutions that take families out of this pandemic will be thanks, in large part, to the inclusion of women in the rooms where these decisions are made. Women – especially black women – understand the experiences of those who suffer the most. But we must remember that while these leaders are here right now, this may not be the case without intentional investment in a generation of leaders to support them. Many women lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 crisis. These women are not just today’s workers, they are tomorrow’s leaders.

Mason: I am optimistic about female leadership. Right now, women are leading broadly. From Kamala Harris, the first female vice president, to Sue Nabi, Coty’s CEO and secretary Janet Yellen, women are leaning towards this moment and acting as national experts on critical issues such as the economy, national security and growth in the sector private sector. They are demonstrating how to lead in an inclusive way and with their eyes on our greatest and most common good.

Thomas: Senior leaders are under enormous pressure now – and women are facing the same demands as men and some more. This is probably rooted in two dynamics: women at a higher level are more likely to have responsibilities to their children, and decades of research in the social sciences show that we keep women in leadership with higher standards than men. Women in leadership are twice as likely as senior men to think about changing careers or leaving the workforce as a result of Covid-19. Women are already underrepresented in the leadership and we cannot lose the few we have. Compared to men at the same level, women leaders are more likely to defend racial and gender diversity, advocate policies and programs favorable to employees, and to guide and sponsor other women.

About women in the workforce

Mason: The pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women, forcing more than five million women to stop working. The intersection of motherhood and work has certainly made the economic crisis more painful for women. This is a moment of public recognition and revelation that would not have been possible without the twin crises of the pandemic and the economic crisis. I hope we can use it to propel us to rethink a society, including our workplaces and homes, that gives more support to working women and their families.

Serious: Even before the pandemic, millions of poorly paid women across the country were on the brink of a fiscal chasm – barely living from salary to salary, building makeshift daycare centers and routinely without basic protections like paid sick leave and health insurance. Once the pandemic hit, massive job losses by women in sectors where they were the vast majority of workers – such as retail, leisure and hospitality and education – collided with a collapsing daycare system to create a perfect storm that rocked women – disproportionately Black and Latino women on low wages – in the sights of the crisis. Women seeking to return to the workforce after the Covid-19 crisis will need all the tools at their disposal to prevent long-term damage to their wages and ensure the ability to challenge discrimination when it arises.

Thomas: In short, Covid-19 is a disaster for women in the workforce. Companies need to double the retention, hiring and promotion of women – and deal with the barriers and prejudices that have long limited the advancement of women – or risk losing years of progress towards gender equality. It will also be critical that companies create a culture that embraces virtual work and that they create standards and processes to ensure that remote employees receive the same support, access and opportunities as internal employees. Otherwise, remote employees – who are likely to be disproportionately women – will be neglected and left out.

Churches: There is absolutely no doubt that women are a vital part of the workforce and the economy of the United States benefits greatly from their contributions. But a worrying question is how our workforce remains divided by gender: men still dominate in certain fields and women in others, usually those who pay less. This is occupational segregation in a nutshell. There is no reason why more women are not working in manufacturing, commerce and, of course, in the STEM areas. Just as there is no reason why men should not have jobs as teachers, librarians, nurses. Research has repeatedly shown that a company’s financial results are enhanced by a diverse workforce. It is in everyone’s interest that we reach it.