HIGHLIGHTING THE PAY GAP
AAUW is committed to supporting “fairness in compensation, equitable access and advancement in employment, and vigorous enforcement of employment antidiscrimination statutes.”
Equal Pay Day 2019 is April 2. But the fight for equal pay and workplace equity for women continues all year long through legislative advocacy, branch and IBC programs and activities, and articles in newsletters and newspapers. The material below was written for Equal Pay Day, but the information and suggested activities can be used at any time to educate members and the public and to promote workplace equity issues.
The date symbolizes how far into 2019 women must work to earn what men earned in 2017. According to national Census statistics released in 2013, women working full-time, year-round, make, on average, 78 cents for every dollar a male earns doing the same job. In California, women do slightly better, 85 cents on the dollar. Another year, another wage gap for women and their families. The pay gap is even worse for women of color – for African American women the gap is 64% compared to white men, and Hispanic women 54%. And with our inactive Congress and still-troubling economy, women continue to feel the pinch of the wage gap. AAUW members and our partners can work to help close the gap.
Action on Equal Pay Day has the objective of raising the awareness of the issue in our communities, with our members, and especially with young women who are under the false impression that pay inequity has been “taken care of”. While SB358 was enacted by the California Legislature in 2015, there is still much work to be done before it becomes a reality for all women.