Equal Pay Day in the United States is 4 April this year, but what does this actual mean? On the surface it means that on average woman in the United States need to work 15 months to earn the same amount that their male peers earn in 12. But this is not the full story.
The April date of Equal Pay Day represents the average women in the United States have to work to make the same as their male counterparts - the key word is average. African American women have to work until July, Native American women need to work until September, and Latinas have to work until November. Yes, I wrote that correctly, November. There are many factors that contribute these different numbers, but the big ones are occupational choices, access to education, and of course, Gender Dynamics and the ever looming Motherhood Penalty.
For more information on how the American Association of University Women (AAUW) marks these days, check out the following links:
7 March 2017
Asian American Women’s Equal Pay Day23 May 2017
Mothers’ Equal Pay Day31 July 2017
Black Women’s Equal Pay Day25 September 2017
Native American Women’s Equal Pay Day2 November 2017
Latinas’ Equal Pay Day
Are you serious about closing the leadership gender gap for all women? For more information on how to close it, check out these additional blog posts and contact us to help develop a game plan for your company to close the leadership gender gap!