Equal Pay Day is the symbolic day when women’s earnings finally catch up to men’s earnings from the previous year. Because women earn less on average than men, they must work longer for the same amount of pay. In 2015, it still takes women an extra three months of wages to make up that 22-percent difference. It’s commonly known that women on average earn 78 cents for every dollar men earn. For African American women, that figure is only 63 cents. Latinas earn even less – just 53 cents for every dollar. Equal Pay Day was established in 1996 by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE). It serves as a public awareness event to show how the gap between men’s and women’s wages requires women to work longer to earn the same amount as men. Wear RED on Equal Pay Day
to symbolize how far women
and minorities are “in the red” with their pay!
