On November 21, 2024 we will be marking Native Women’s Equal Pay Day. This year, Equal Pay Today, Return to the Heart Foundation, Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women, Native Women Lead, Not Our Native Daughters, and the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, along with many organizations and activists across the country, will be taking collective action in a national social media storm on November 21 at 2pm ET/11am PT.  Please use this toolkit to participate.

In addition, on December 5 at 2pm ET/11am PT, we will be holding a webinar with the incredible leaders from these organizations as well.  Please join us for “Pay Equity is Power: Advocating for Native Women’s Economic Justice.” Please register for the webinar here and see our lineup below!

On Native Women’s Equal Pay Day, we are raising awareness and shining a light on the fact that Native American women working full-time year round only make, on average, 58 cents on the dollar as compared to non-Hispanic, white men. Worse still, when you look at all Native women earners, they only make 52 cents in comparison to all non-Hispanic, white male earners, one of the most significant wage disparities in the United States. If you break it down by Tribal nation, some Native American women are paid even less.  These wage gaps are appalling and undermine family economic security generation after generation.

The lasting impacts of colonialism, genocide, and state-sanctioned violence on Native communities continues to be felt today. Native Americans face higher rates of poverty, unemployment, and violence. Recent data shows that the majority of Native American mothers are breadwinners for their families; yet with Native women earning about half the amount of white men, it creates an economic barrier to provide for themselves and their families. Low pay, economic abuse, and the lack of employment protections play a huge role in why so many cannot safely leave abusive situations. Therefore, long-term safety is almost impossible.