Hoda Kotb Opens Up About Financial Struggles While Being the 'Lowest-Paid Correspondent'
Hoda Kotb is remembering a time in her career when she wasn't paid her worth.
During the Wednesday, Sept. 20, episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna, the longtime anchor opened up about her career trajectory, stating that she experienced pay disparity early-on.
While discussing Vanna White and her recent Wheel of Fortune contract re-negotiation, the broadcaster admitted it wasn't until she advocated for herself that she received a raise.
"I think it's one of the hardest things for women to do,” she said of having to ask for a pay bump. “I know for years I was definitely making a fraction of what my male co-anchors were making. I actually never asked because I didn't want to be difficult."
According to the Department of Labor, the statistics are clear. "Women are not paid as much as men, even when working full-time and year round. On average, women working full time, year round are paid 83.7% of what men are paid," the government agency states on its website, adding, "This inequity is even greater for Black and Hispanic women."
While looking back on her time as an NBC Dateline correspondent from 1998 to 2007, Kotb claimed she might have been “the lowest paid correspondent” at the time.
"I remember thinking to myself, 'I can't pay my bills here,'” she continued of the obvious pay inequality she was faced with. “I couldn't pay all my bills at the same time. So I was like, 'I'll pay this one, and then pay that one.'"
In response, cohost Jenna Bush Hager brought up the importance of teaching their daughters “to both be humble [and] to work hard” and to "not be afraid to ask for what they deserve."
"Both things can be true. You can have grace and humility and still ask for what you deserve," Kotb agreed. "Both of those things can happen at the same time."
Cheers to women unabashedly advocating for themselves and getting what is deserved!
