AANHPI Women’s Equal Pay Day Underscores Ongoing Need for Pay Equity

(SACRAMENTO, CA) – April 9 is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Women’s Equal Pay Day, a day that highlights how much longer AANHPI women must work to earn what white, non‑Hispanic men earned in the previous year. Despite perceptions that AANHPI women fare well economically, the data reveal deep disparities across ethnic subgroups.

AANHPI women are typically paid 83 cents for every dollar paid to white, non‑Hispanic men, with some subgroups earning as little as 50 cents on the dollar. Over a lifetime, these inequities cost AANHPI women hundreds of thousands to more than a million dollars, undermining family stability, limiting economic mobility, and weakening California’s workforce and consumer economy.

In California, home to one of the largest AANHPI populations in the nation, full‑time, year‑round AANHPI women earn 78.1 cents for every dollar earned by white men, and 72 cents when all workers are included. Although 57% of Asian women in California hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, women are not well represented in upper management. These gaps persist even in high‑wage industries where AANHPI women are well represented.

California Leading the Way

California continues to advance some of the strongest pay equity protections in the nation. In 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 642 (Limón), the Pay Equity Enforcement Act, co‑sponsored by the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls (CCSWG) and authored by Commissioner Senator Limón to update outdated language, recover lost pay up to six years, and limit excessively broad pay ranges in public job postings.

CCSWG has long championed equal pay, including co‑sponsoring the California Fair Pay Act, the strongest equal pay law in the country, and supporting SB 973 authored by Commissioner Senator Jackson, which required large employers to submit annual pay data reports disaggregated by gender, race, ethnicity, and job category.

“California has made real progress on pay equity, from strengthening our pay transparency laws to expanding tools that hold employers accountable,” said California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls Executive Director Darcy Totten. “The work is far from finished. Too many women, especially women of color, still face persistent wage gaps that limit economic mobility and affordability. When women are paid what they’re worth, our companies perform better, our communities grow stronger, and California’s economy reaches its full potential. We remain committed to making equal pay the norm, not the exception.”

Equal Pay Is Essential to California’s Economic Strength

Closing wage gaps is both a matter of fairness and a strategic economic imperative. When women are paid fairly, families have more spending power, small businesses grow, and communities become more resilient. Pay inequity, by contrast, suppresses tax revenue, increases reliance on public services, and limits long‑term economic competitiveness.

Nationally, women lose nearly $1.9 trillion every year due to the wage gap, losses that directly affect housing, food security, childcare access, and long‑term financial stability.

A Call to Action

California leaders urge policymakers, employers, and community partners to:

• Strengthen pay transparency and enforcement of equal pay laws
• Invest in workforce pathways for women across all income levels
• Support culturally and linguistically responsive services
• Expand data disaggregation to accurately reflect all AANHPI communities
• Advance family‑supportive policies such as paid leave and affordable childcare
• Sign the Equal Pay Pledge

About AANHPI Equal Pay Day

AANHPI Women’s Equal Pay Day marks how far into the next year AANHPI women must work to earn what white, non‑Hispanic men earned the year before. It highlights the economic inequities faced by AANHPI women across ethnicities, occupations, and immigration statuses, inequities often obscured by the “model minority” myth.

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For 60 years, the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls has identified and worked to eliminate inequities in state laws, practices, and conditions that affect California’s women and girls. Established as a state agency with 17 appointed commissioners in 1965, the Commission regularly assesses gender equity in health, safety, employment, education, and equal representation in the military and the media. The Commission provides leadership through research, policy and program development, education, outreach and collaboration, advocacy, and strategic partnerships. women.ca.gov.