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How Does the Pay Gap Affect Women of Different Demographics? The pay gap affects women from all backgrounds, at all ages, and of all levels of educational achievement, although earnings and the gap vary depending on a woman's individual situation. Race/ethnicity Among full-time workers in 2015, Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native, African American, and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander women had lower median annual earnings compared with non -Hispanic white and Asian American women. But African American, Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander women experienced a smaller gender pay gap compared with men in the same racial/ethnic group than did non -Hispanic white and Asian American women (Figure 3). FIGURE 3 Median Annual Earnings, by Race/Ethnicity and Gender, 2015 $70,000 $60,000 $50,000 540,000 $30,000 $20,000 $10,000 0 532,493 $34,426 542,026 538,243 560,897 $39,510 Hispanic or Latina/o African American White (non -Hispanic) Asian Native Hawaiian American Indian and Other and Alaska Native Pacific Islander • Women • Men XX% Women's earnings as a percentage of men's earnings Source. U.S. Census Bureau, 2015 American Community Survey 1 -Year Estimates 10 (2VI 23 In contrast, only 14 percent of public -sector employees reported that pay discussions were either discouraged or prohibited. This higher degree of transparency in the public sector may be related to the greater gender pay equity found in the federal government (see Washington, D.C.'s gender pay gap, Figure 2). Federal workers can easily see how their salaries compare with others at their grade level and geographical location because the U.S. Office of Personnel Management makes public the salary and wage range for each level of federal worker and additional locality pay for areas where the cost of living is higher (U.S. Office of Personnel Manage- ment, 2016). A 2014 report found that, among white collar federal workers, women were paid 87 percent of what men were paid in 2012, compared with 77 percent in the workforce as a whole in 2012 (U.S. Office of Person- nel Management, 2014). Employers can also use audits to monitor and address gender pay dif- ferences, to great effect. Minnesota requires public -sector employers to conduct a pay equity study every few years and eliminate pay disparities between female -dominated and male -dominated jobs that require compa- rable levels of expertise (Minnesota Management and Budget). Employers use a job evaluation tool to compare jobs on dimensions such as the com- plexity of issues encountered, the depth and breadth of knowledge needed, the nature of interpersonal contacts required, and the physical working conditions. This allows employers to identify jobs—for example, delivery van drivers and clerk typists—that, despite being different, require similar levels of knowledge and responsibility. An analysis is then done to compare wages of predominantly female jobs with those of predominantly male jobs of comparable skill levels. If the results of the study show that women are consistently paid less than men for jobs requiring similar levels of knowl- edge and responsibility, the employer makes the necessary salary increases. The state's efforts have been hugely successful: Since the 1970s, Minnesota has virtually eliminated the pay gap in public -sector jobs of comparable value (Legislative Office on the Economic Status of Women, 2016). .72