Social and Racial Justice
The YWCA’s commitment to racial and social justice is one of the common threads that unites YWCAs across the country.
NATIVE WOMEN’S EQUAL PAY DAY is November 18, 2025
Equal Pay Days recognize the current status of the gender wage gap across different groups of women which are calculated each year based on Census and other economic and workforce data. These dates represent the dates that women across racial and ethnic groups, disability, sexual orientation, and parenthood would have to work in the current calendar year to earn what a white, non-Hispanic man working year-round, full time made the previous calendar year.
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Colonial legacies of state-sanctioned violence, genocide, and cultural erasure continue to contribute to higher rates of poverty and unemployment in Native communities, and Native women experience a strikingly severe gender wage gap.
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Compared to non-Hispanic white men working full time, year-round, Native women earn just 58 cents to the dollar.
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In addition to the gender wage gap, the motherhood wage gap compounds disparities for Native women.
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56% are the breadwinners for their families, yet Native mothers earn approximately 50 cents to the dollar compared to white, non-Hispanic men.
You Can Help by Advocating for:
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The Paycheck Fairness Act of 2025 (PFA): This legislation would close critical loopholes in the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which made it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages based on gender and formally established the policy of equal pay for equal work. PFA would strengthen that existing landmark law.
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H.R.17 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): Paycheck Fairness Act | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
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S.1115 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): Paycheck Fairness Act | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
Resources for talking points: Legislation Summaries - Equal Pay Today
Learn more by visiting American Progress: www.americanprogress.org/article/breadwinning-women-are-a-lifeline-for-their-families-and-the-economy/
Equal Pay Days recognize the current status of the wage gap.
LGBTQ+ Equal Pay Day is unique from other recognized constituency-based Equal Pay Days. Calculating the wage gap requires an intersectional approach, since there is less government data collected from LGBTQ+ people. This in part, may be due to discrimination - which has escalated with the recent passing of legislative actions against LGBTQ+ individuals. The discrimination and bias LGBTQ+ people face in education, employment, housing, and health care, along with other factors contribute to LGBTQ+ people experiencing higher rates of poverty.
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The YWCA Helena believes pay equity is a vital component for LGBTQ+ individuals to live and contribute to a healthy community.
“We envision a world of opportunity. We commit ourselves to the work of racial justice. We will get up and continue to do the work until injustice is rooted out, until institutions are transformed, until the world sees women, girls, and people of color the way we do – equal, powerful and unstoppable.”
– YWCA USA
Equal. Powerful. Unstoppable.
Federal Legislative Priorities
Informed by YWCA’s rich 160-year history and by the expertise of our nationwide network, YWCA advocates for practical solutions that meet the needs of women, girls, and marginalized communities to advance our intersectional mission to eliminate racism and empower women.
With local YWCA associations across 45 states and the District of Columbia, YWCAs are on the frontlines providing child care, gender based violence, housing, and other programs and services to as many as 2 million women, girls, and families in a typical year.
YWCA Helena stands
with Transgender Montanans​
Our voice is a crucial part of this work.
Your voice is a crucial part of this work.
YWCA Helena stands strong in its mission to bringing us closer in ensuring peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. We endeavor with you to raise the voice of those who are silenced. We've included a resource to help you interrupt language and behaviors that exclude transgender and queer individuals.
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