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November 20 marks an important date for all Latina women. It’s the day where they shed light on just how vast the pay inequality is between men and women, especially women of color. According to the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Latina women make $.54 to the $1.00 of non-Hispanic white men. In other words, Latinas are paid 46% less than white men in the United States. In order to highlight this disaparity, many Latina-Owned organizations are speaking out, including Julissa Prado of hair care brand Rizos Curls.
“Corporations have an ethical responsibility to ensure that their employees’ salaries are justifiable based upon experience, responsibilities, and knowledge,” Julissa said in a statement. “We must hold corporations and each other accountable. I feel it’s the responsibility of us with platforms to raise awareness on this inequality and help equip Latinas with the tools to negotiate an appropriate salary.”
Latina women must work 23 months to earn the same amount white men earn in 12 months. If this wage gap is eliminated, Latinas will be able to earn more money to not only take care of themselves, but also their familias. To put things in perspective, they’d be able to afford three more years of child care, they’d have approximately 19 more months of mortgage payments and they can acquire up to almost two years of the max requirement contribution. It’s not just Latina women who suffer from the wage gap—all women earn less than the white man with $.80, but Latinas earn considerably less than that.
To raise awareness, Julissa is having major (and significant) discount on one of her most popular hair products. The Rizos Curls 4-Step Travel Kit, which normally retails for $22.99, will be sold at $12.42 when using the code EQUALPAY at checkout. This is a 46% discount, the same percentage that makes up the wage gap.
“Rizos Curls will always be the three C's—Curls, Community, Culture—and anything that affects our collective culture as Latinas, I will always lend my voice and support to,” the Latina entrepreneur continued. “I am so proud to elevate this conversation about Latina pay inequality with Latinas I deeply admire. I realized that many of us—either business owners or executives in the corporate space—have personally faced a pay disparity, yet when we talk about how Latinas are paid significantly less per dollar than our white male counterparts to our larger communities, many times, it’s the first time these Latinas are finding this out.”