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There are many factors that contribute to the pay gap for individuals with disabilities, ranging from lack of access to educational and employment opportunities to direct bias and discrimination. One likely factor is a provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which makes it legal to pay some people with disabilities less than minimum wage. About 150,000 Americans with disabilities are paid less than minimum wage, in some cases as little as pennies per hour (U.S. Department of Labor, 2018; U.S. Department of Justice, 2015). SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY A study of the pay received by gay men, lesbians, and bisexual men and women found that all three groups have labor market outcomes that diverge from heterosexual workers. Gay men are paid less than straight men, while lesbians are paid more than straight women, but both differences are attributed primarily to differences in family structure: Gay men do not receive the "fatherhood bonus" that many straight men receive, while lesbians are more likely than straight women to avoid the "motherhood penalty" due to a lower likelihood of having children (see below on the causes of the pay gap). Bisexuals seem to face lower earnings primarily as a result of discrimination (Mize, 2016). However, the gender pay gap is consistent across sexual orientation: Regardless of sexual orientation, women tend to have lower earnings than men. As a result, eliminating the gender pay gap would lower poverty rates for couples that include at least one woman (Williams Institute, 2015). When analyzing the gender pay gap, it's also important to include people who do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth. The Williams Institute estimates that 1.4 million adults in the United States identify as transgender (2016). More than one-quarter of respondents to a survey of transgender people reported an income of less than $20,000 annually, while another analysis found that 15 percent of transgender people have earnings less than $10,000 annually, compared to 4 percent of the general population (Grant et al., 2011). Transgender people frequently experience harassment and discrimination AAUW • www.aauw.org FIGURE 6: Median Annual Earnings by Disability Status and Gender, 2017 $50,000 $40,000 $30,000 $20,000 $10,000 SO With a disability ■ Women ■ Men Source. U.S. Census Bureau (2018a) No disability in the workplace because of their gender identity, as well as discrimination and obstacles in other domains that further harm their economic security (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2018a; Center for American Progress, 2015). People who transition from male to female gender expression experience a drop in pay after the transition, while those who transition from female to male gender expression see no difference in pay or even a small increase (Grant et al., 2011; Schilt and Wiswall, 2008). The experiences of transgender people provide insight into gender stereotypes and bias and how these factors play a role in the gender pay gap. While the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) does currently assert that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender workers are protected from wage discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2018a), these groups still lack uniform federal legislative protections against workplace discrimination. Federal court rulings and state and local laws are inconsistent, meaning that workplace protections for LGBT workers are not sufficiently robust or comprehensive with respect to challenging their wage gaps. THE SIMPLE TRUTH ABOUT THE GENDER PAY GAP I Fall 2018 Edition Q A- I I