Women in Red! Equal Pay Day is April 15

April 4, 2003

Women are still in the red when it comes to pay. According to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau statistics, women today, on average, are paid only 76 cents in wages for every dollar that men are paid. That represents a snail-like increase of less than a cent per year since the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963, when women were paid 59 cents compared to a man's dollar in wages. If the same pace continues, we may not achieve parity until 2042!

Please join the National Organization for Women's effort to draw attention to this intolerable wage inequity by wearing red on Equal Pay Day, April 15. Equal Pay Day takes place on a Tuesday, symbolizing the point in the next week to which a woman must work in order to receive the same pay that a man received in the previous week. Wear red on Equal Pay Day to show your frustration with the wage gap and your support for equal pay. And since April 15 is tax day—it is all the more important to remind everyone that wage discrimination hurts everyone.

The shortfall in women's wages in comparison to men's is a persistent inequality that has broad implications. In order to receive the wages that a man is paid in a year, a woman would have to work more than three additional months into the next year. The consequences of deliberate pay discrimination for women and their families is profound. Families have less money for their children's college education, less savings to meet emergencies and greater retirement insecurity. Single and divorced women who often must rely on only one income are even more disadvantaged because of pay discrimination.

Women Managers Fall Behind

A 2002 Government Accounting Office (GAO) study commissioned by Representatives John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) returned shocking results on the status of women in the workforce. The study pulled on current census and its results contradict the myth that the status of women in the workplace is greatly improving.

Here are some its findings:

• Among other results, the GAO study found that the wage gap between full-time male and female managers had actually widened rather than decreased between 1995 and 2000 in seven out of the ten industries analyzed by the study.

• Out of the ten industries, women hold a share of management jobs proportionate to the percentage of women in the industry workforce in only five of them.

• In addition, female full-time managers earned less than male full-time managers in all ten industries in both 1995 and 2000.

Women of Color Paid Less

Although the average woman is paid only 76 cents for every dollar the average man is paid, this ratio is even lower for some groups of women. African American women are paid on average only 66 cents for every dollar that men are paid. Hispanic women are paid only 54 cents on the dollar. (These averages are based on age, education, and occupation according to the March 2002 Census Bureau Report). In addition, there are currently over one million working women in the United States who are paid wages below the established federal minimum wage.

Pay Discrimination Hurts

Women account for 47 percent of the labor force and receive more than half of all bachelor's degrees, yet continue to be paid significantly less than their male counterparts. Obtaining a college degree does not protect a woman from pay inequity. Women with college educations are still paid only 72 percent as much as men with the same level of education. Overall, the average woman is shorted approximately $250,000 over the course of her career due to the wage gap. This loss of revenue for women in unacceptable and needs to be addressed.

The wage gap greatly decreases women's daily buying power, affects their ability to pay for quality childcare, prevents them from saving for retirement, and hinders them from receiving liveable Social Security benefits based on their wages. In addition, the wage gap serves to keep women working minimum or sub-minimum wage jobs and their families in poverty. Pay discrimination not only affects women, but also puts their families, children and dependents at a disadvantage.

Politicians in Denial

It is crucial that attention be drawn to the large discrepancy between men's and women's average wages and that further action be taken to demand equal pay and to eliminate the wage gap. In past years, the president has drawn attention to the need for pay equity in the State of the Union message and has received sustained applause. Politicians know that this is a popular bipartisan issue with the potential of drawing the all-important women's vote, but yet they fail to move any meaningful legislation to address the problem. Worse yet, the Bush administration does not support pay equity and has even appointed a Labor Secretary, Elaine Chao, who denies the wage gap exists!

Ask your members of Congress to support the Paycheck Fairness Act, sponsored by Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), which strengthens penalties courts may impose for equal pay violations and prohibits retaliation against workers who inquire about or disclose information about employers' wage practices. The bill provides for compensatory and punitive damages, in addition to back pay, for women denied equal pay for equal work; it also authorizes class action equal pay suits; and directs the U.S. Department of Labor to provide public information about strategies for identifying and eliminating wage discrimination, and to issue guidelines for evaluating jobs.

An even more effective approach is the Fair Pay Act, sponsored in past years by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), that would prohibit wage discrimination based on sex, race and national origin by requiring employers to provide equal pay for work of equal value, whether or not the jobs are the same. This legislation would also ban retaliation and require employers to file wage information annually with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Take Action NOW

Our goal is to get women all over the U.S. to SEE RED about deliberate wage discrimination. Wearing red on April 15 and getting all your friends to do the same is an easy thing. Let's all do it!

We also encourage NOW supporters and activists to plan Equal Pay Day chapter events to draw attention to the wage gap that exists between the sexes. Feel free to be creative in your planning. In the past, chapters have held events such as bake sales in which baked goods were sold to women for 75 cents and to men for a dollar. This year women can be asked to pay one whole cent more because that's how little progress has been made.

Chapters could also consider hosting "Unhappy Hour"-themed events on Equal Pay Day. The "Unhappy Hour" theme draws attention to the pay differential and its effects on women and society. Supporters are also encouraged to plan workshops or conferences on equal pay and to push politicians and business leaders to enact stronger legislation and more egalitarian wage policies.

You can download a flyer, toolkit and other materials from various websites to use in your actions. Business and Professional Women of the USA, with the National Committee on Pay Equity, has developed user-friendly, downloadable materials. BPW-USA has also prepared a booklet, entitled "101 Facts on the Status of Working Women," that you can use. A number of special studies on women's wages and economic status have been done by the Economic Policy Institute. To access those items and others, please visit these websites: