April 22 is Pay Equity Day in the United States, the day on which a woman’s job earnings equal the earnings of a man from the previous fiscal year. In other words, women have to work almost 16 months in order to earn what a man earns in only 12 months.

As more women enter the workforce than ever before, the gender wage gap remains an issue that affects women of all races, socioeconomic backgrounds and levels of education.
Forty-five years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act, wage disparities still exist that cannot be explained by legitimate economic factors.

According to the American Association of University Women, “Even after controlling for hours, occupation, parenthood and other factors known to affect earnings, the research indicates that one-quarter of the pay gap remains unexplained and is likely due to sex discrimination. Over time, the unexplained portion of the pay gap grows.”

On average, American women earn 77 cents to an American man’s dollar, and in Tennessee, the wage gap is 75 cents to a man’s dollar. For minority women, the wage gap is even greater, with black women earning 67 cents to a man’s dollar and Hispanic women earning 56 cents to a man’s dollar.

The AAUW assessment of pay inequity found that “although the number of women attaining baccalaureate and advanced degrees now surpasses that of men, it has not translated into equal income.”

One year after graduating college, women will earn 80 percent of what their male counterparts earn. Ten years later, however, the gap increases to only 69 percent of what men earn for the same work.

The gender wage gap indicates that, despite equal qualifications and education, the salaries of American women still lag behind those of American men due to long held prejudices that put working women, especially married women with families, at an acute disadvantage in the workforce.

To show your support for closing the gender wage gap, wear red tomorrow to signify how far “in the red” women are when it comes to receiving equal pay for equal work, an inequity that must change.

The Vandy Feminists will be on the wall tomorrow at lunchtime with information about Pay Equity Day, and they invite you to their meeting at 6 p.m. tomorrow at the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center to discuss the gender wage gap and what can be done to remedy the unjust disparity it poses for working women in the United States.