Gender gap narrower in Hawai'i

Advertiser Staff

Women in Hawai'i in 2000 earned 82 cents for every dollar men are paid, slightly higher than the national average of 76 cents, according to the Census Bureau.

Hawai'i women fared better than the national average because "we don't have the high-earning men (in large industries). The top of the wage scale (for men) is compressed in Hawai'i," said Jeanne Ohta, interim executive director of the Hawai'i State Commission on the Status of Women.

Ohta said Hawai'i ranks low for the number of women in managerial positions, but higher than the nation at large for women-owned businesses.

"I think when women can't get what they want in normal corporate settings, they open their own businesses," Ohta said.

She said many women-owned businesses in Hawai'i are in retail, travel, personnel management and health services.

Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono and legislative and community leaders spoke out for equal pay yesterday during a news conference in the lieutenant governor's office.

Hirono said unions have been an equalizer for women's wages in Hawai'i.

And men's wages declined as service industries were hit hard by the economic downturn after Sept. 11.

"Wages in Hawai'i are more compressed," Hirono said. "We all work hard in Hawai'i."