Women already have it tough in the workforce environment. To this day there is no such thing as complete equality throughout our nation.According to AAUW, “The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap” in the United States the statistics are clear that women had an unemployment rate during the months of February and April 2020 of 12% compared to the men that was 9%.
There is a trend to catch in the articles speaking up about the gap that there is in the workforce for people of color. I was very surprised about the data that was presented. I was not informed that in every category, race, there would be a scale of those who earn more and those who earn the minimum. For instance in the article AAPI Women’s Economic Security I was shocked that within the AAPI women there was discrimination between each country and there was a deascalating scale within the average earnings compared to a dollar of these women. For example a Taiwanese woman could earn $1.21 and a Burmese woman could earn $0.52 and a Korean and Japanese woman come in close to earning $1.00. Once again I was very unaware that this occurred in different races. And to add on, after I read in the article that in order to make up their loss in their wages they have to work harder, longer hours, and multiple jobs. Which is extremely hard on anyone especially a person of color and being a woman of color.
The podcast “Domestic Workers Hit Hard by the COVID-19 Pandemic” (13:49) really is saddening and infuriating as well. These domestic workers which include “Those are nannies, house cleaners, home health care workers, and more working in a private home.” These type of people are the people who are the most unprotected and do not have the support of the state or the federal government. They do not qualify for healthcare, those who are immigrants, undocumented women/men of color do not qualify for any stimulus or any unemployment. That is covered when Ai-jen Poo mentions that one of their members had one cent left in her bank account when people who are citizens have received approximately twenty-five thousand dollars for their annual income due to the help that the government has given. Another topic that is mentioned is that these professions are looked upon as less.
Im very opinionated, especially whenever undocumented or immigrants are mentioned. They are individuals who have needed to give their 200% in order to thrive. My parents are undocumented immigrants and this pandemic hit our family like a nuclear bomb. My father was a restaurant worker near fifth avenue, he lost that job due to the restaurant closing. And my mother was a stay at home mom. But recently she’s a housekeeper. As soon as the pandemic hit we did not have any resources but we started to recycle bottles. The winter hit and we are still recycling bottles, my father was able to get a job as a housekeeper at a synagogue-townhouse and the owners only wanted to pay $13 the hour which is under minimum wage. Which infuriated me because in order to have such a property in the upper west side requires to have $$$. And this also is another proof that employers discredit the work and effort that it is to be a house keeper. Well my dad gave the job to my mother in order for him to search for another job to bring in a little more money to our home.T he labor is intense as a housekeepers. ( there are five floors to clean and it is incredible how tired at the end of the day you feel) I worked for three weeks and it was the worst three weeks due to how labor intensive it is, homework was unmanageable. People definitely need to be seen and given more rights.
I think everyone needs to hear everyones story, no single human being is one sided. The little things in our community is what paves the way for the future generation. Even if it makes people uncomfortable, that is how we grow! Fighting for equal pay is a fight for everything. Work that is done in our community, the more people acknowledge and speak about these topics is the way we progress. I just want to show that immigrants resort to any means, hard-workers, and they deserve more respect. This post means so much to me since it covers a topic so close to me.
Elba, Thank you for these powerful and moving words and images. You are raising such important issues here about whose work is valued, economic inequality and vulnerability, and the exclusion of undocumented workers– we will talk more about all of this in class today.