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Hey there,
It's Equal Pay Day – the day we mark to sound the alarm on the egregious, gender and racially discriminatory wage gap. And it's also National Working Moms Day* – a day to celebrate and acknowledge working mothers and their contributions to society. The fact that they fall on the same day triggered the irony alert in my brain and I laughed out loud at the realization. It's like a bizarre heroine and anti-hero mash up!
Maybe, just maybe, as the planets align to link these two events on this one day, women across the country can finally reach pay equity! A girl can dream, right? But in all seriousness, the reality that women, working full-time, year round, are earning just 84 cents to a man’s dollar is sickening! [1] But here’s the kicker – factoring in part-time, seasonal, & gig work that number drops to just 78 cents! And if we peel back this rotting onion a little further, what do we find? Spoiler Alert: racism, a maternal wall, and discrimination!
On average, this is the breakout for what women earn compared to white men based on racial demographics and parental status. [2]
These numbers speak 🔊volumes 🔊, and here’s what I’m hearing:
Gender justice, racial justice, and economic justice are tied together -- one never happens without the others. That’s why we all need to raise our voices to demand better.
And the irony continues – not only are we highlighting this egregious miscarriage of justice on National Working Moms Day*, but also mid-way through our celebration of Women’s History Month. We should be in full on Mom Dance Party mode, but the wage gap just keeps crashing the party! That is why we need strong, common sense policy solutions to achieve pay equity for women, like the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Salary Transparency Act.
The Paycheck Fairness Act would modernize and strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963 to better combat pay discrimination and close the wage gap, including by protecting workers from retaliation for discussing pay, banning the use of prior salary history, and codifying pay data collection. [3] While the Salary Transparency Act, would help reduce the pay gap by requiring employers to provide the salary range for jobs and restrict. [4]
These policies are crucial to fighting against wage discrimination impacting women, families, and communities across the country. As it stands, on average women are robbed of $9,990 a year due to the wage gap – that's a whopping $399,600 over the course of a 40-year career! And it doesn’t stop there, because unfair pay now means unfair disbursement of retirement funds later. [5] As a result of lower lifetime earnings, the average Social Security retired worker benefit for women 65+ is nearly $5,000 less than men of the same age! [6] This is unacceptable!
The time to advance pay equity for women and mothers is NOW! And with your help, we’ll keep fighting until we achieve it.
Together we’re a powerful force for women and families.
-Taylor, Ruth, Kristin and the whole MomsRising.org & MamásConPoder Team
*MomsRising recognizes and wants to lift that moms do not exist in a monolith. All mothers do not participate in the labor force as paid workers, and their unpaid labor is crucial to sustaining families, communities, and the economy. The wage gap and its insidious symptoms transcend employment status to impact all women and their labor, whether paid or unpaid.
References:
[1] US Census Bureau: Equal Pay Day: March 12, 2024
[2] [6] NWLC: A Window Into the Wage Gap: What’s Behind It and How to Close It
[3] NPWF: The Paycheck Fairness Act
[4] US Congress: H.R.1599 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): Salary Transparency Act
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