Women Make 77 Cents for Each Dollar Men Make in the U.S.

Posted April 25th, 2008 by Susan Gunelius in Equality

Did you know that Tuesday, April 22nd was Equal Pay Day? I didn’t. In fact, I’ve never heard of it. Why isn’t this day publicized more?

According to BizWomen.com, Equal Pay Day was created in 1996 by the National Committee on Pay Equity to draw attention to the inequality in pay between men and women in the United States. It falls on a Tuesday in April each year.

The importance of this holiday is undeniably significant. Lauren Lawley Head said it all in her post on BizWomen.com called Pay Gap Worth Steaming Over when she listed these facts:

Nationally, women make 77 cents for every $1 men earn.
In terms of annual pay, it took women from January 1, 2007 until April 2008 to make as much money as their male colleagues had made by December 31, 2007.
In terms of weekly pay, women have to work until the following Tuesday to catch up to the earnings of men in equivalent positions.

What do you think about National Pay Day? Have you heard of it? Have you participated in any activities related to National Pay Day? Leave a comment and share your experience and/or thoughts.

2 Responses to “Women Make 77 Cents for Each Dollar Men Make in the U.S.”

Joy on April 25, 2008 6:09 pm
I’ve never heard of it, but I wish I did. It irks and furstrates me whenever I think about how much lower women are earning compared to men. We work just (or even twice or thrice) as hard and yet we don’t have anything to show for it.
Susan Gunelius on April 25, 2008 9:12 pm
I completely agree, Joy.