Equity in Money™
With Summit Credit Union
83% Makes Zero Sense.
Women working full-time earn $0.83 for every $1 earned by men working full-time.1 This wage gap has been persistent for decades and hurts not only the financial well-being of women, but also our national economy.
The pay gap follows women throughout their careers, and then carries into retirement. In fact, women are more likely than men to have zero dollars saved for retirement2 – plus they’re 43% more likely to live on an income below the poverty level after age 65.3
So it’s more than a pay gap – it’s a wealth gap. And it comes from a variety of factors, including:
- Lack of representation. There aren’t enough women in senior executive and CEO roles – just 7% of Fortune 1000 companies have a female CEO.4 And women are also underrepresented in higher paying fields, like Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, where women represent just 27% of STEM workers.5
- Unequal caregiving responsibilities. Women are far more likely to leave the workforce or reduce their hours to take on caregiving responsibilities for children or parents, which brings down their lifetime earnings. And when re-entering the workforce, it’s more difficult for women than men to return at comparable salary levels.
- Unequal career value. Women-dominated fields are valued less, and paid less, than male-dominated fields. In addition to re-evaluating the value of women-dominated fields, it’s also important for more women to enter higher-paying fields, like the STEM roles mentioned above.
- Unfair compensation practices. Practices like using prior pay to determine salary or negotiating starting pay perpetuate pay inequities that follow women from job to job.
Troubling, right? Especially to us at Summit, where helping people achieve financial wellness and live to the fullest is what we do.
Representation Matters — and We Have It at Summit.
There aren’t enough women in leadership roles, and this drives the continued wage gap. We absolutely can't close the wage gap without closing the representation gap. And equal representation isn't just about compensation – it's also about ensuring equal access for everyone to development and growth opportunities, an inclusive work environment and support for employees’ well-being.
Unfortunately, the financial industry has a large representation gap. According to a Within Reach study by Deloitte, women in financial services firms make up just 24% of leadership roles and 9% of senior leadership and C-Suite (or "Chief" titled) roles. We can do better, and we do better at Summit with strong female representation across hourly, exempt and executive-level positions.
Percentage of Women Employees
Hourly Employees
Salaried Employees
Executive Employees
There's Pay Equity At Summit.
To make sure Summit has pay equity – and that it stays that way – we follow an established Pay Equity Policy that includes things like:
- Annual assessments to ensure women's performance increases align with men's on a large scale.
- Annual reviews of compensation within each of Summit's pay levels, ensuring fair pay for similar work. This review includes an assessment of compa-ratios, which measure an employee’s pay relative to the midpoint of the salary range for the position. There are variations in pay due to time in role, experience, education and overall performance.
- Not asking job candidates for pay history (we will not build off a previous pay inequity).
- Not negotiating starting salary, because women are statistically less likely to do so. (If a market shift demands negotiation, we also review other employees with the same role, experience and performance to ensure pay equity.)
Compa-Ratios at Summit
Summit Overall
Hourly Employees
Salaried Employees
Change Has to Start Somewhere. Why Not Summit?
Pay equity's one big piece of an even bigger picture. We're leading the way to a fair financial future by helping women and all members:
- Build wealth through homeownership, as the #1 Mortgage Lender in Wisconsin6
- Start and grow businesses, as the #1 SBA Lender Among Credit Unions in Wisconsin7
- Get more for their money and build wealth, with great interest rates, lower fees and a cash give-back
- Feel more confident in financial decisions and happier overall, with free financial education and one-on-one coaching (plus an award-winning employee financial wellness program offered at no cost to area businesses!)
From Our Big Picture to the Bigger One.
Just look at the bigger impact if we closed the women's pay equity gap.8 We can help get it started together.
