EQUAL PAY DAY
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
About Equal Pay Day
Equal Pay Day is held annually in April to signify the point into a year that a woman must work to earn what a man made the previous year. In 2008, working women earn on average 23% less than their male counterparts. (annual wage data is not yet available for 2009.) In other words, for every dollar earned by a man, a woman working just as hard earns only 77 cents. Things are even worse for women of color. African American women earned 66.5 cents and Latina women earned 56.7 cents to every dollar earned by men. Gender wage discrimination has been illegal since President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act in 1963 but the wage gap persists. Women earned 59 cents to every dollar earned by men in 1963, but progress has slowed and the gender wage gap widened slightly from 77.8 to 77.1 percent between 2007 and 2008. More statistics on the gender wage gap.
Policy Updates for Pay Equity | Equal Pay Day Toolkit | Additional Resources
Equal Pay Day Toolkit
Equal Pay Day is excellent opportunity to organize activities and events to bring attention to the wage gap. Download the Equal Pay Day Toolkit to access the following helpful tools to assist you in the planning your events and activities.
- Equal Pay Day Fact Sheet
- Sample Letter to Editor
- Sample Press Release
- Sample Proclamation
- Sample Op-Ed
- Workplace Equal Pay Audit
Additional Resources
