Did you know that LGBTQIA+ Americans are more likely to be underemployed and underpaid than the general population, despite being more educated? This is because of wealth gap in the LGBTQIA+ community.

Over the last two decades, the LGBTQIA+ community has experienced acceptance like never before. Americans have rapidly changed their attitudes toward gay and lesbians to reflect greater acceptance, with younger generations paving the way, according to research by NORC. However, this community is still experiencing an overwhelming amount of discrimination when it comes to pay, technology, healthcare, retirement, education, and much more. The wealth gap describes how those in the LGBTQIA+ community earn less income and own less than others.

LGBTQIA+ as a whole starts off on the back foot, as it costs more to a LGBTQIA+ person. According to Rob Curtis, CEO and co-founder at Daylight, someone in this community is 3-4x more likely to suffer with mental health, which is very costly to manage. They receive only partial coverage in the healthcare, retirement, and family preparation arena. They occur 50% more college debt. When a young person comes out to family there is a 40% chance that they will be cut off financially. More recently, research conducted by the HRC Foundation found that full-time LGBTQIA+ workers earn less than typical workers in the United States, with LGBTQIA+ workers earning approximately 90 cents for every dollar earned by a typical worker, black workers earning approximately 80 cents, trans men and nonbinary, genderqueer, genderfluid and two-spirit workers earning approximately 70 cents, and trans women earning approximately 60 cents.

CAN strives to empower LGBTQIA+ organizations with enhanced technology that will change the world around them and help close the wealth gap. That is why we hyperfocus on different types of identities and orientations when formulating our profile applications, documents, etc. All options are highly intersectional and unique. We always focus on the values and attributes of an individual when making enhancements to our portal, as we believe that inclusivity is the key to growth.

By: Sydney Marks
www.canportal.org

Coordinated Assistance Network is proud to present The Momentum to Modernize Grant (M2M) M2M is intended to provide technology that produces transformational resources for nonprofit infrastructure, efforts to scale, and implementation support. CAN is granting 75 in-kind grants to organizations for “Black Level” CAN portal licensure. Click here to learn more about M2M.