Equal Pay Day
By Lucy Rose Davidoff on 04/11/2011 @ 03:00 PM
Although the Equal Pay Act was signed into law almost 50 years ago, women still earn on average only 78 cents to every dollar a man earns. Specifically for women of color, the gap is even wider: According to a recent White House report, at all levels of education, women earned about 75% as much as their male counterparts in 2009. Compared to the earnings of all men, White women earned 82%, Black women earned 71% and Hispanic women earned 62% as much as men. Equal pay for equal work is the cornerstone of equality in the workplace and beyond. Wage discrimination undermines family values and a family’s ability to maintain economic security.
In a time when more and more women are raising families alone, it is imperative that we close the wage gap and work towards true workplace equality. Not only are these inequities enormously detrimental to women and their families, wage inequities follow women into their retirement years. This reduces their Social Security benefits, pensions, savings and other financial resources, which puts an increased burden on the government and local services.
We celebrate Equal Pay Day every year on a Tuesday in April. This year it falls on April 12th. April 12th represents how far into 2011 a woman has to work to earn the same as a man did in 2010. Equal Pay Day was established in 1996 by the National Committee on Pay Equity, and has been used ever since to raise awareness about the wage inequalities that persist today.
There are events all over the country to help bring attention to the wage gap, so this April 12th, get involved! People will be wearing red to symbolize how far women are “in the red” with their pay, writing letters to the editor, calling their senators and holding rallies and events all over the country. Click here to find out more about how you can help promote equal pay.
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