Podcasts

Hosts Ericka Burroughs-Girardi and Beth Silver investigate the gender pay gap and answer important questions about how we got here and how it affects our health. On average, women in this country make little more than 80 cents for every dollar white men make. The pay gap is much wider for women of color. We kick off the series with our colleague, Dr. Elizabeth Blomberg, who explains the data behind the gender pay gap. We’re also joined by Dr. Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, who sets the stage on the history of women’s wages and how we can close the gap.

The gender pay gap is a complex issue and closing it will require multiple solutions. In our second of three episodes on the topic, hosts Ericka Burroughs-Girardi and Beth Silver are joined by Dr. Jessica Milli, an economist and the founder of the consulting firm Research 2 Impact. Dr. Milli talks about how the gender pay gap harms our health, entire communities and the economy. Our colleague Kiersten Frobom, a senior analyst on our evidence and policy analysis team, also joins the conversation to discuss the strategies that communities and organizations are using to close the gender pay gap.

Type “the gender pay gap” into any search engine and one of the first results that pops up will be: “The gender pay gap myth.” In the final episode of this miniseries, hosts Beth Silver and Ericka Burroughs-Girardi bust myths and break down the toxic narratives around the gender pay gap. They are joined by Dr. Jonathan Heller, a senior fellow at the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, who talks about how toxic narratives maintain systems and policies that keep women undervalued and underpaid. Dr. Jessamyn Schaller, an economics professor and co-author of The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap, concludes our series by making the connections between the pay gap and women’s health.