Let’s all come together to recognize equality for women in supporting the efforts of Equal Pay Day! As a women-owned and women-operated company, this is a day we are particularly passionate about calling attention to. At Fred and Far, we believe in empowering women, not only through community and support, but also through knowledge. Below you’ll learn about the history of Equal Pay Day, how the wage gap exists across race and socioeconomic background, and how you can get involved.
Equal Pay Day originated in 1996, when the National Committee on Pay Equity decided to bring awareness to the gap between men’s and women’s wages. To illustrate it in its entirety, they selected a Tuesday to represent how far into the next work week women would have to work in order to earn what men earned the previous week. Since then, women and men around the world have come together to recognize the pay disparity that women face every day.
Equal Pay Day unites thousands of local advocates in programs and activities focused on eradicating wage discrimination against women and people of color. Local activists organize rallies, lobby days, speak-outs, letter-writing campaigns, workshops, and meetings with employers, policy-makers, and enforcement agencies to promote effective solutions for closing the wage gap. Red is worn on this day as a symbol of how far women and minorities are "in the red" with their pay.
In the hustle and bustle of your day-to-day life, you may not feel the effects of the wage gap. Or, you may think that with a certain level of education, you are shielded from it; however, the numbers tell us otherwise. Listed below are some facts with regard to the wage gap and how it affects women of various colors, education levels, and socioeconomic backgrounds according to Economic Policy Institute:
- A typical, or median, woman working full time is paid 80 cents for every dollar a typical man working full time is paid. When evaluated by wages per hour, a typical woman is paid 83 cents for every dollar a man is paid.
- The average woman worker loses more than $530,000 over the course of her lifetime because of the gender wage gap.
- Asian and white women at the median actually experience the biggest gaps relative to Asian and white men, respectively. But that is due, in part, to the fact that Asian and white men generally make much more than black or Hispanic men.
- Relative to white non-Hispanic men, black and Hispanic women workers are paid only 65 cents and 58 cents on the dollar, respectively, compared with 81 cents for white, non-Hispanic women workers and 90 cents for Asian women.
- The wage gap tends to rise with education level.
- While the average woman worker loses more than $530,000 over the course of her lifetime due to the gender wage gap, the average college-educated woman loses even more—nearly $800,000.
Now you might be thinking...1. “This is terrible” and 2. “How can I fix this?” Well, here are six ideas that the AAUW suggests for you to mark Equal Pay Day:
- Urge your elected officials to act on Equal Pay Day.
- Host an “Unequal” bake sale or (un)happy hour
- Launch an equal pay media blitz.
- Host an issue forum in your community.
- Bring salary negotiation workshops to your community/campus.
- Get Creative!
Meanwhile, Team Fred and Far is marking the occasion with a discount to make up for the average wage gap for women. On any pinky ring purchase, use code EQUALPAY18 at checkout for 18% off your order (This discount will be valid 4/10 ONLY!). Self Love Pinky Rings were intended to empower women to choose, honor, and remember themselves on a daily basis. Part of choosing yourself is defining your worth and fighting for that like so many women have been for years before us. Let us be the force in changing the status quo.