Reform Pay Equity Initiative

Why is there a need for the Reform Pay Equity Initiative (RPEI)?

The issue of pay equity is often defined as a woman’s issue, yet we know it to be an issue of human rights and social justice. By engaging the entire Reform Movement around this issue, we are reinforcing the message that economic justice for women is at the core of our fundamental Jewish values.

• Read Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch's RAVBlog post for Equal Pay Day 2023  
• Read Talia Shapiro Blank's WRJ blog about our RPEI work. 
   

What does Reform Pay Equity Initiative do?

Through this effort, we have comprehensively assessed the salaries of the professionals who serve Reform institutions. In 2017, we used this data to professionally analyze the gender wage gap within the Reform Movement and published an analysis in the 2018 CCAR Journal. In addition to providing research and analysis of the wage gap, we have hired leading experts to conduct training and workshops and have presented at conferences and published articles to educate Reform institutions about ethical hiring practices and implicit biases and educate HUC students about negotiation skills. We have also provided grants to Reform institutions to conduct salary surveys and create educational materials to be distributed to the greater public. We continue to meet with our partner organizations on an annual basis to learn about important topics surrounding pay equity, discuss achievements, and look to areas that continue to need to be addressed within the Movement.

Read executive summaries on salary data from the following URJ affiliates:

• Central Conference of American Rabbis (2021)
• American Conference of Cantors (2022-23)
• National Association for Temple Administration (2021)

Who is involved in the Reform Pay Equity Initiative?

The Reform Pay Equity Initiative (RPEI) is coordinated by Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) and the Women’s Rabbinical Network (WRN), with participation by all the arms of the Reform Movement, including affiliates and professional associations. 

What does success look like?

The Reform Movement champions many social justice causes, and this is one in which we can immediately affect change. By approaching the issue of pay equity in a multi-pronged, systemic, and integrated manner, by increasing awareness, and by changing the systems that have allowed this inequity to flourish, we will strengthen our institutions, bolster Jewish professional fields, and bring justice to working women.