By Carolina Costa
[Pictured above: Women Pressers on Strike for Higher Wages. Kheel Center, Cornell University: Ithaca, New York]
Although enforcement of the Equal Pay Act as well as other civil rights laws such as Title VII have helped to narrow the wage gap, significant disparities among men and women remain which need to be addressed. 1 Equal Pay Day was originated by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) in 1996 as a public awareness event to illustrate the gap between men’s and women’s wages.
Census statistics showing the latest wage figures will not be available until late August or September, so the NCPE leadership decided years ago to select a Tuesday in April as Equal Pay Day. (Tuesday was selected to represent how far into the work week women must work to earn what men earned the previous week.) The date also is selected to avoid religious holidays and other significant events.
Because women earn less, on average, than men, they must work longer for the same amount of pay. According to the U.S. census Bureau and Bureau of Labor statistics, women who work full time earn about 77 cents for every dollar men earn. Minority women face an even larger wage gap: compared to white men, African American Women make 70 cents on the dollar (African American men make 74 cents); Hispanic or Latina women make about 60 cents (Hispanic men make almost 66 cents).1
This year the UMKC Women’s Center and Career Services will host an information table to raise awareness of the wage gap. Stop by our table to learn helpful negotiating skills, ways to improve your resume and cover letter, how to ace an interview, or to just learn interesting facts about women and minorities in the workforce. We will have pizza to help illustrate a pie chart about the pay disparity, and information about upcoming events that will help you narrow the gap. Don’t miss it!
National Equal Pay Day Table
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Time: 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Location: UMKC Royall Hall
800 E. 52nd Street
Kansas City, MO
Want more information on National Equal Pay Day? Stop by these websites.
- 1http://www.aauw.org/act/issue_advocacy/actionpages/payequity.cfm
- http://www.pay-equity.org/day.html
- http://php.umkc.edu/career/?q=node/85
- http://www.umkc.edu/womenc/default.asp
- http://www.womendontask.com/stats.html
- http://www.womendontask.com/
- http://www.sixfigures.com.au/job_seekers/resources/articles/salary-negotiation-guide-for-women
- http://jobsearch.about.com/cs/womensresources/a/pregnant_2.htm
- http://www.now.org/issues/economic/factsheet.html
For more information about the UMKC Women’s Center and our upcoming events please visit our website: http://www.umkc.edu/womenc/ or call us at (816) 235-1638
To find out more about Career Services visit their website: http://php.umkc.edu/career/