Throughout the year, six Equal Pay Days are observed for women of varying backgrounds and circumstances. Today, August 3, we observe Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, as August 3rd 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.
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:
- 31 months of child care
- More than 16 additional months of premiums for employer-based health insurance
- More than two and a half additional years of tuition and fees for a four-year public university, or the full cost of tuition and fees for a two-year college
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 3, and all year long. Here’s how you can get involved and take action:
Join the conversation:
- Twitter Storm: 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET – Join us to raise awareness about the wage gap experienced by Black women. Alongside our Equal Pay Today coalition partners nationwide, we will be highlighting the effects of workplace discrimination, as well as the impacts of COVID-19 on Black women and their families.
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
Related content:
- 3 Ways To Become an #EqualPayChampion This Equal Pay Day
- Demand Equal Pay for All Women!
- Demand Equal Pay for Latina Women!
- Demand Equal Pay for AAPI Women!
