Gender Pay Gap for Raimondo’s Staff Nearly Doubles in 18 Months to 25%

Gender Pay Gap for Raimondo’s Staff Nearly Doubles in 18 Months to 25%

The pay gap between men and women on the Governor Gina Raimondo’s staff has grown dramatically over her first eighteen months in office  — from 14 percent to now a gap of 25 percent. She is Rhode Island's first female Governor.

In January of 2015, GoLocalProv.com looked at the pay of the men and women on Raimondo’s staff and found that despite her campaigning on the pay equity issue, the examination of staff salaries found that the gap was 14%.

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The fifteen men on Raimondo’s staff have an average salary of $96,892 while the average salary for the twenty women staffers is just $72,535.

In the past eighteen months the pay gap has grown and grown. 

Top Staffer Gender Gap

Of the top ten staffers, six of the top pay positions are now held by men — eighteen months ago it was equally split.  But, there is a difference in compensation.

Of the top ten staffers the average salary is just under $147,000. The four women’s average salary is $137,637, but for men it is substantially higher — men earn a little more than $153,000 — a pay gap of five percent.

Campaign Cornerstone Issue

Raimondo’s campaign made the issue of pay equity a cornerstone of her campaign. Raimondo issued a white paper during the campaign calling for women to receive equal pay of their male counterparts.  

The Raimondo campaign white paper affirmed: 

Rhode Island has a law on the books forbidding wage discrimination on account of sex, yet the wage disparity between men and women persists. That’s why, as Governor, I will immediately take action to promote a culture of paycheck fairness in our state, by:

• Creating an anonymous tip line, so that women who are earning less for equal work will be able to report their employer’s non-compliance, and have access to resources to help them earn the pay they deserve;

• Create an equal pay certification status that will be awarded to all Rhode Island businesses that show a commitment to equal pay practices.