25-03-2025
Underscoring ongoing gender disparity, Gov. Mills declares March 25 Equal Pay Day
Maine Gov. Janet Mills enters the House chamber for the annual joint State of the Judiciary address on Feb. 25, 2025. (Photo by Jim Neuger/ Maine Morning Star)
In order to catch up with the amount of pay the average man made last year, a full-time working woman in the United States would need to toil through March 25.
As a symbolic reminder that 'there's more to do to ensure Maine women receive equal pay for equal work,' Gov. Janet Mills issued a proclamation declaring March 25 National Equal Pay Day in Maine.
The proclamation notes that even though Maine Equal Pay Day is recognized annually on the first Tuesday of April, the national day symbolizes how far into the year women in the U.S. must have worked to earn what men had earned by December 31, 2024.
'Ensuring equal pay and access to good-paying jobs is not just about fairness — it strengthens families, reduces poverty, and drives economic growth,' said Maine Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman in a news release.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the difference between median earnings for men and women in Maine who worked full-time, year-round in 2023 was roughly $8,900. Men earned a median of $61,300, while women earned $52,400. Those gaps are even bigger between white, non-Hispanic or Latino men and American Indian and Alaska Native women ($30,100), and Black or African American women ($25,200).
Asian women experience a smaller gap of $1,600 less than white or Latino men.
'Equal Pay Day highlights the ongoing struggle to appropriately value and support the work of Maine women — and the full Equal Pay Day calendar shows how the burden of the wage gap falls disproportionately on mothers, women of color, disabled women, and the LGBTQ+ community,' said Elinor Higgins, executive director of Maine's Permanent Commission on the Status of Women, a group appointed by the governor that advises the state on policy and social issues related to women and girls.
The governor pointed to recent progress on this front, namely a law passed in 2019 that discourages employers from basing wages on an employee's salary history. Last week, the Legislature's Labor Committee split on a bill (LD 799) that would require employers to annually report gender-based wage gaps to the Bureau of Labor Standards. The Mills administration did not take a formal position on the legislation but raised several questions about implementation and enforcement.
Though Maine's Equal Pay Law requires that employers pay workers an equal amount for work that is comparable in skill, effort, and responsibility, the 2019-2023 American Community Survey 5-year Estimates highlights persistent gaps in legal, health, sales, production and maintenance occupations in Maine.
In December, the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women released its 2024 biennial report, which found that gender disparities persist in part due to disproportionate caregiving responsibilities and insufficient access to services such as affordable, high-quality child and elder care.
'The gender wage gap is not about individuals, it's about systems,' said Destie Hohman Sprague, executive director of the Maine Women's Lobby. ''Women's work' (traditional roles such as care and caregiving) pays less, and women earn less over a lifetime because of their unpaid caregiving roles.'
'Systems are solved with policies, and Maine policymakers have an opportunity to address this gap once by supporting bills that address pay transparency and workforce segregation,' Hohman Sprague continued. 'They also must continue to build the caregiving structures, such as paid family and medical leave, childcare, and direct care, which supports pay equity over the long term.'
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