Throughout the year, six Equal Pay Days are observed for women of varying backgrounds and circumstances. Today, August 13, we observe Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, as August 13th marks the date that Black women have to work into the new year to finally catch up to what white, non-Hispanic men earned last year.
Women—particularly Black women—are overrepresented in low-wage jobs and underrepresented in high-wage jobs. And even in the jobs where women make up the majority, they’re still underpaid relative to men. Black women deserve better.
The mission of Equal Pay Today, a project of Equal Rights Advocates, is to eradicate the long-standing gender wage gap impacting the economic security of women and families through an innovative collaboration of national, regional, and state-based women’s legal advocacy and worker justice groups.
Check out Equal Rights Advocates’ live pay data collection conversation:
According to the National Partnership for Women & Families, if the wage gap were eliminated, a Black woman working full time year-round would have enough for roughly:
- 2.5 years of child care
- 156 more weeks of food
- 22 more months of rent
Black Women’s Equal Pay is essential for the wellbeing of Black women & families. We encourage our SWE members and the public to join the conversation and fight today, August 13, and all year long. Here’s how you can get involved and take action:
Join the conversation:
- Facebook Live: Thursday, August 13th, 10am PT/1pm ET at facebook.com/EqualPayToday for an exciting free live conversation about race, economic theft, and how the subminimum wage for tipped workers hurts Black women nationwide.
- Twitterstorm: Thursday, August 13th, 11-12pm PT/2-3 pm ET. Use hashtags #BlackWomensEqualPay and #OwnYourPower2020.
Donate to the cause:
Equal Pay Today organizations are hard at work, but they can’t do it without help from you. Make a tax-deductible donation to help progressive organizations fight for equal pay. Members of Equal Pay Today collaborate at the local, state and federal level on policy, litigation and outreach strategies to close the gender wage gap for all women. Equal Pay Today fights for:
- workplaces free of sexual and racial harassment
- equality for pregnant workers and caregivers
- an end to occupational segregation
- pay transparency
- a living minimum wage for all, including tipped workers
- equal pay
- women, and all who love them
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