Opinion: It's time for Washington employers to bridge the gender pay gap

By Grace Yoo – Washington State Women's Commission
Jun 18, 2024

Washington state doesn’t often find itself on lists of the worst states in the country — but here we are, 49th in the nation on the pay gap between men and women. Utah is the only state that’s doing worse. (America as a nation isn’t exactly succeeding on this front, either. We’re ranked in the bottom 10 among OECD countries.)

That’s what keeps me up at night and fired up by day at the Washington State Women’s Commission. We’re a scrappy startup within state government aiming to close that gap. For us to have a shot at succeeding, we need all hands on deck: government, business, labor, academia, women and men.

On June 28, we will launch our statewide campaign, Activate 3.8. The mission is to activate the full economic potential of the 3.8 million women in Washington. Imagine that — half our state’s workforce activated to fill labor shortages, be paid fairly and spend those wages in our communities. How much stronger could Washington’s economy be when we all contribute and flourish?

I’m here to say it can be done.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2024/06/18/women-washington-state-wage-gap-activate-38.html