Equal Pay Day Coverage
Equal Pay Day — the symbolic point at which a woman's salary finally catches up to a man's earnings from the previous year — may hold the mainstream media's attention for just a little more 24 hours. At AAUW, the issue of pay equity is one of our Evergreen issues. AAUW has emerged once again as one of the go-to organizations on issues involving the wage gap. For Equal Pay Day 2009, we furnished journalists with the latest statistics, put the issue of pay equity in context, and contributed op-eds supporting the Paycheck Fairness Act to newspapers around the country. Here is a round up of Equal Pay Day coverage:
- AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman appeared in a Fox News report on the wage gap and was quoted in an article in DiversityInc magazine entitled "Why Are Women Still Earning Less than Men?"
- Lisa Maatz, AAUW's director of public policy, offered expert testimony before the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), was quoted in the sHERO blog article "What Would You Do with an Extra $434,000?," and appeared on an Equal Pay Day panel discussion at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
- Catherine Hill, AAUW director of research, is featured in a Detroit Free Press article, "Pay Equity Day Is a Reminder for Women to Get Fair Share," that highlights AAUW's new wage gap data and our groundbreaking research report Behind the Pay Gap.
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Branch and State Activities
AAUW of Pennsylvania
AAUW members in Pennsylvania will be attending an Equal Pay Day Rally being held at the state capitol in Harrisburg on April 20. The rally, which will begin at noon in the Capitol Rotunda, will consist of prominent speakers, including state legislators and women's group's leaders, who will encourage the passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act as a means to move closer to pay equity.
AAUW of Michigan
An Equal Pay Day press conference will be held at the rotunda of the state capitol in Lansing, Michigan on April 20. Female legislators, who are introducing a package of pay equity bills in the state, will discuss the continued wage gap facing women today. The event was planned by a coalition of women's groups, including AAUW, and the media will be in attendance.
AAUW of Ohio
Branches in Ohio have organized an "unhappy hour" at local bars and restaurants, during which women will receive a 23 percent discount on food and drinks on Equal Pay Day. This type of activity raises community awareness of the pay gap.
AAUW of Indiana
The AAUW of Calumet (IN) branch will hold a bake sale at Purdue University Calumet's student union building. They will be selling bakery items at $1.00 per item for males and $.77 per item for females and will get the message out via posters and stickers about what Equal Pay Day is all about. Informing the next generation of leaders about pay inequity is an important step towards a remedy.
Also check out Equal Pay Day rally coverage by the Denver Daily News.
What did your AAUW Branch or group do to mark Equal Pay Day? Tell us about your events!
Send us pictures from your Equal Pay Day events!
Get the Facts
Women continue to earn, on average, just 77 cents on teh collar to their male counterparts. Women women now making up half the workforce and more and more families depend on a woman's paycheck to make ends meet, pay equity is more important than ever.
The Gender Pay Gap
State by state pay gap between women and men full-time workers
AAUW Testimony at Joint Economic Committee on Equal Pay Day, 2009
GAO Report on Gender Pay Gap in the Federal Workforce
Job Search Intelligence
Fair Pay Compensation Tool
$tart $mart Campus Negotiation Workshops