Pursuing justice for women and girls,
fighting to create an equal future.
- In the U.S., a woman who works full time earns just 80 cents to every dollar a man earns (89 cents in California).
- Most women of color experience and even wider gap. In 2019, Black women earned just 61 cents, Native Americans 58 cents, and Latina’s got only 53 cents to every dollar paid to a white man
- Combined, California women lose out on $78.6 billion per year that they would have make if they were paid in line with men.
- More than one in five households in California are severely burdened by housing costs, meaning people are spending more than half of their income on household expenses.
- Roughly 83% of Section 8 housing vouchers go to female-headed households.
- Women now comprise 40% of the national homeless population, whereas only a few years ago they comprised just 25%.
- Women represent nearly two-thirds of people living in poverty over age 65.
- Pay inequality compounds over a lifetime, and is reflected in older adults’ pensions and retirement funds. In California, the median income of men over 65 is $31,000; for women it is just $15,500.
- Upwards of 75% of all caregivers are female, and they spend as much as 50% more time providing care than males.
- Female service members are particularly at risk for sexual assault: one in four experience Military Sexual Trauma.
- Women are the fastest growing segment of the homeless veteran population, comprising 9% nationally.
- A lack of female-only veterans housing exacerbates trauma and puts women service members and their families at risk of homelessness.
Economic Security
Economic security is at the heart of many challenges women face.
Financial dependence can trap women in abusive relationships, silence them in the workplace, and strain families facing unplanned pregnancies. Women also continue to bear the burden of lifelong wage inequality. The California Women’s Law Center is dedicated to advancing gender equality by tackling the root causes of financial instability.