Whereas: Pay inequities persist across race and gender and pose substantial risks to companies and society. Black workers’ hourly median earnings represent 64 percent of white wages. The median income for women working full time is 83 percent that of men. Intersecting race, Black women earn 63 percent, Native women 60 percent, and Latina women 55 percent. At the current rate, women will not reach pay equity until 2059, Black women in 2130, and Latina women in 2224.1
Citigroup estimates closing minority and gender wage gaps 20 years ago could have generated 12 trillion dollars in additional national income. PwC estimates closing the gender pay gap could boost Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries’ economies by 2 trillion dollars annually. Actively managing pay equity is associated with improved representation. Diversity in leadership is linked to superior stock performance and return on equity.3 Minorities represent 38.5 percent of Kroger’s workforce and 26 percent of Store Leaders. Women represent 50.5 percent of the workforce and 33 percent of Store Leaders.

Best practice pay equity reporting consists of two parts:
- unadjusted median pay gaps, assessing equal opportunity to high paying roles,
- statistically adjusted gaps, assessing whether minorities and non-minorities, men and women, are paid the
same for similar roles.

Kroger does not report quantitative unadjusted or adjusted pay gaps. Over 20 percent of the 100 largest U.S. employers currently report adjusted gaps, and an increasing number of companies disclose unadjusted gaps to address the structural bias women and minorities face regarding job opportunity and pay. Racial and gender unadjusted median pay gaps are accepted as the valid way of measuring pay inequity by the United States Census Bureau, Department of Labor, OECD, and International Labor Organization. The United Kingdom and Ireland mandate disclosure of median pay gaps, and the United Kingdom is considering racial pay reporting.