This year, Equal Pay Day falls on April 2, 2019. This date symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year.
Equal Pay Day was started by the National Committee on Pay Equity back in 1996 to highlight the gap between men and women’s wages. Equal Pay Day is held every April to symbolize how far into the year women need to work to make what men did in the previous year. However, this date is calculated using the overall wage gap, the $0.80 on the dollar figure.
Equal Pay Day for black women is later in the calendar year, because minority groups typically earn less than white women. According to EqualPayDay.org, the typical black woman must work until August 2019 to be paid what the typical white man was paid at the end of December 2018.
PayScale’s latest research, The State of the Gender Pay Gap 2019, highlights how women’s experiences in the workforce vary vastly by race. Women of color often face additional barriers to advancement compared to white women. For example, black women experience even wider pay gaps, we start our careers in lower paying positions, and are even less likely than white women to make it to the c-suite.
Additionally, PayScale’s findings indicate employers do not value degrees equally among men and women. The data shows that employers tend to undervalue degrees when they’re earned by women. Employers pay women less than men at every education level.
Learn how to ask for a raise
Suspect you’re earning less than you should? Check out AAUW’s salary negotiation online workshop. It’s completely free and will give you the tools you need to ask for a raise.
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Post by Octavia Goredema
Octavia Goredema is an award-winning career coach, writer and the founder of Twenty Ten Talent. You can connect with her on LinkedIn or over on Twitter.
