Report: Missouri women struggle to close pay gap

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Women in Missouri struggle to close the pay gap with men, according to a report from the Women's Foundation and a University of Missouri researcher.

The foundation's 2015 Status of Women in Missouri was updated Thursday, The Columbia Daily Tribune reported.

The report found women who work in the state full time earn 78 cents for every dollar men working in the state full time earn.

Factors such as poverty, lack of education, employment and pay equity can affect women as they try to support themselves and their families, said University of Missouri Institute of Public Policy associate director Emily Johnson.

According to the report, women older than 75 are twice as likely to live in poverty than men, and two-thirds of all Missouri residents older than 65 living in poverty are women.

Women's Foundation president Wendy Doyle commended former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon for making executive orders to help reduce the pay gap in state government during his tenure.

Doyle said former private industry can adopt practices, including salary audits, to determine whether women are given pay comparable to men in similar jobs.

"As corporate leaders can see the data, they then can make the leap to really develop solutions," she said.

Doyle said the report will be updated every two to three years.