On Monday, President Obama declared April 12, 2016 as Equal Pay Day because on average, that’s how far into the year women have to work to make the same amount as their male counterparts did the previous year. According to the president’s proclamation, here are some facts and figures proving the pay gap clearly still exists:
1. It takes more than 100 days of extra work and waiting to cash in the same paycheck white, non-Hispanic men get to on Dec. 31.
2. This comes down to a ratio of 79 cents for every dollar the average white, non-Hispanic man makes.
3. The disparity only grows for women of color: black women make 60 cents to the dollar.
4. Hispanic women make only 55 cents to the dollar.
5. This means female minorities have to work even longer for their equal pay day. According to USA Today, for black women, they have to wait until Aug. 23; for Native-American women – Sept. 14; for Latina women – Nov. 1.
6. A recent report from Congress identified Louisiana as the state with the largest gender pay gap difference of 34.7 percent, or an earnings ratio of 65.3 percent.
7. D.C. has the smallest gap, but even there it is above 10 percent at an earnings ratio of 89.6 percent.
8. Congress’ report goes on to share much of this is rooted in a lack of female representation in higher-earning fields such as STEM. A variety of engineering specializations – some of the top-earning majors – are just 10-40 percent female.
9. An additional issue lies in our country’s lack of paid maternity leave. The United States is the only advanced country that does not guarantee paid leave, while 53 percent of all countries offer at least 14 weeks of maternity leave according to the International Labour Organization.
10. And yet, the United States has the third highest average child care cost out of the 34 nations belonging to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), often exceeding a year’s worth of in-state tuition at a public university.
11. This results in mother’s equal pay day not occurring until June 4.
To end on a positive note, President Obama also announced his plan to designate a national monument commemorating the women’s equality movement in D.C. It will be named the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument after suffragists Alva Belmont and Alice Paul.
The president ended his proclamation with the following words.
Now, therefore, I, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 12, 2016, as National Equal Pay Day. I call upon all Americans to recognize the full value of women's skills and their significant contributions to the labor force, acknowledge the injustice of wage inequality, and join efforts to achieve equal pay
