Tomorrow is Mothers’ Equal Pay Day, which marks how far into the year working mothers have to work to catch up to what fathers made the previous year. Turns out there’s quite a wage gap, according to the National Women’s Law Center. Laura Narefsky is a senior counsel at center, and she spoke with “Marketplace Morning Report” host Nancy Marshall-Genzer about this. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Nancy Marshall-Genzer: How big is that wage gap I just mentioned, and how much does it cost mothers per year? And how is it compounded by racial inequality?

Narefsky: So for mothers working full-time, year-round jobs, on average, they earn 74 cents for every dollar paid to fathers. That costs mothers $18,000 annually. Black mothers are paid 53 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic fathers, which adds up to $35,000 a year. The same is true for Latina mothers and Native mothers, who lose on average $37,000 and $38,000 a year.

Marshall-Genzer: What about the businesses that employ these mothers? What should they do, and what might they be forced to do in a tight labor market to attract working mothers?

Narefsky: We know that providing things like paid family and medical leave, paid sick leave, higher wages can all help support working mothers. But the answer can’t be found just with the private sector.

Marshall-Genzer: So companies might have to start paying up, but you don’t see that making a huge difference?

Narefsky: I think for meaningful progress to be made to eliminate the wage gap and the motherhood wage gap, we really need governments to step up. I think providing policies like protecting workers from caregiver discrimination, and providing access to good, high-quality child care are all really vital steps.

Marshall-Genzer: I’m looking at the most recent statistics from the Labor Department and a majority of Hispanic and Black women work in service or office jobs. So is the wage gap for mothers wider in the service sector?

Narefsky: Mothers are overrepresented in some of the lowest-paid jobs in this country. But, unfortunately, when we compare mothers and fathers working at the same job, even in really high-earning, high-educational-achievement positions, we still see that wage gap persist. And often fathers are given a boost, a benefit to their pay, where mothers experience a motherhood penalty.

Marshall-Genzer: As a mother, I can say that’s just crazy. And, finally, Laura, how do we see this playing out in the service sector, say when we go to a restaurant and it’s short on staff?

Narefsky: I think, first off, of the tipped minimum wage, which still keeps so many workers in the service sector dependent on tipping to be able to make their ends meet. Which, for women in the service sector, we know opens them up to sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination that too many women have to suffer through to be able to make ends meet.

Stories You Might Like

The cost of being a working mother? $18,000 a year, study says

Women and their employers can both work to combat gender wage gaps

Moms with straight As in high school get similar leadership opportunities as dads who got failing grades

Gender gap in work hours grew during pandemic

Equal Pay Day for black women marks a persistent wage gap

Here’s what the wage gap looks like