Moms’ Equal Pay Day Spotlights Stark Inequities for Working Moms

 Sacramento, CA (August 6, 2026) – Moms’ Equal Pay Day highlights how working moms continue to face a persistent and pervasive wage gap that compounds existing barriers at work. These barriers include limited opportunities for advancement, lack of paid leave, inadequate access to affordable quality childcare, inflexible schedules, and other workplace policies that penalize caregivers. These barriers take a toll over a woman’s lifetime, reflected in lower lifetime earnings, reduced retirement savings, and diminished economic stability for entire families.

• • • National data shows moms earn 64 cents for every dollar paid to all earners.
    • Nationally, the median earnings of full-time working mothers is 74% that of fathers, a larger gap than the overall gender pay difference.
    • In California, moms earn 76 cents for every dollar paid to full-time, year-round earners.
    • The wage gap is even wider for single mothers and mothers of color.

Mothers are often forced to sacrifice their career goals because of the lack of affordable and accessible childcare. This gap leaves many without essential benefits such as paid family leave, medical leave, and healthcare. Without a strong, affordable childcare infrastructure, women are pushed out of the workforce or into options that limit or diminish their long-term job prospects.

“Women make up half of California’s population, and many are raising the next generation of leaders. Their economic stability is essential to the entire state’s future,” said Darcy Totten, Executive Director of the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. “No woman should be penalized for becoming a mom. By holding employers accountable for illegal discrimination, expanding access to affordable childcare and paid family leave, and creating solutions to boost economic security and equitable pay, California has a real opportunity to improve families’ financial well-being and economic output by uplifting working mothers.”

The motherhood penalty manifests in a number of ways, often driven by systemic, structural barriers to creating economic security.

Employment Patterns and Economic Mobility

• • • Mothers often assume primary childcare and family responsibilities, leading many to seek part-time or lower-paying jobs with flexibility.
    • Part-time positions typically lack benefits like paid family leave and health insurance, which limits economic mobility and reinforces gendered labor expectations.
    • While full-time working mothers earn less than single women or women without children, fathers working full-time earn 125% of what single men or men without children earn. Thus, there is a motherhood penalty, but a fatherhood bonus.

Occupational Segregation and Pay Disparities

• • • As of 2023, nearly 1.4 million mothers in California worked in historically underpaid industries like paid caregiving, service jobs, hospitality, janitorial, and more, regardless of employment status.
    • Motherhood brings increased financial demands, reduced earnings, and greater home responsibilities, all of which impact women’s ability to fully participate in the workforce and diminish promotional opportunities.
    • The unpaid labor of childcare, elder care, and household management disproportionately fall on women and standard economic measurement systems systematically fail to count or value.
    • Globally, women take on 76% of unpaid care work, translating into nearly 3 more hours a day than men, worth an estimated $11 trillion.

The Wealth Gap

• • • Wealth is defined as net worth (assets minus liabilities) and is a more reliable indicator of economic stability than earnings.
    • Lower earnings for mothers mean less money for savings, less money to pay down student loans, property investment, and restricted access to loans or financial resources.
    • Wealth gaps by race/ethnicity and gender are even more pronounced than gaps in earnings, with women and people of color at a significant disadvantage.

When women are unable to fully engage in the workforce, the entire economy feels the impact. According to research by the National Partnership for Women and Families, if women in the U.S. had participated in the labor force at rates comparable to Germany and Canada, the nation’s GDP would have averaged about 3 percent higher over the past decade. This translates into an estimated $6.7 trillion increase in nominal GDP during that period.

To ensure working mothers can thrive and support their families while maximizing their labor participation, essential supports are needed. These include paid family leave, workplace cultures that genuinely welcome and sustain new mothers, expanded access to affordable childcare, and a more equitable approach to parenting. When these systems are in place and working together, the benefits extend to families, employers, and communities alike.

About Moms’ Equal Pay Day
Moms’ Equal Pay Day highlights how much longer mothers must work to earn what white, non-Hispanic men earned in the previous year. It serves as a call to action to address and rectify the systemic inequalities contributing to the wage gap hurting working moms. 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.

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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.