All Women’s Equal Pay Day

Equal Pay Day was developed by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) in 1996 as a public awareness event to illustrate the gap between men’s and women’s wages. This date symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year. Because the wage gap is wider for women of color, multiple dates exist corresponding with women belonging to different racial/ethnic groups. Women make up about 47 percent of the overall workforce, yet make up 58 percent of the low-wage workforce, defined as those working in jobs that typically pay less than $11 per hour. They make up 69 percent of the very low-wage workforce—those working in jobs that typically pay less than $10 per hour, according to data by NWLC. Across all occupations, low or high wage, and even in occupations where women are overrepresented, they experience a wage gap. This impacts retirement savings, families well-being, and the greater economy.