Thursday, October 5, 2023 marks Latina Equal Pay Day, the symbolic day when Hispanic and Latina women’s earnings “catch up” to non-Hispanic white men’s earnings from the previous year. Latinas are paid 52 percent of what non-Hispanic white men are paid. That means it takes Latinas almost an entire extra year of full-time, year-round work in order to be paid what the average non-Hispanic white man took home by December 31, 2022.

Latinas are one of the fastest growing, most powerful groups in the United States. We are opening new businesses at the highest rate in the country and have rising rates of college enrollment and degree attainment. We excel in every sector and industry in our country. Despite all of this, we are still not reaching our full economic potential. Economic security is a crucial part of ensuring that Latinas can live and work with dignity and become less vulnerable to different forms of violence, including sexual harassment.