Tuesday, August 7th is equal pay day for Black women. What is equal pay day? Equal pay day is the name given to the fight to ensure that Black women are paid the same as white, non-Hispanic males. When compared to White, non-Hispanic men, Black/African American women earn only $.63 (cents) on the $1. What this means the typical Black woman must work until August 2018 to be paid what the typical White man was paid at the end of December 2017.

It is incredibly sad that we STILL need to declare that Black women deserve equal pay for equal work. Sad that so many Black women daily toil away at work that never quite pays enough to pay the bills and provide a good life. Shouldn’t hard work be enough to ensure you are not living in poverty? While we have our noses to the grindstone, we must also come together and lift our voices and flex our activist muscles to fight for Black Women’s right to equal pay.

WE CAN knows that most of you are living the daily nightmare of ‘hustling backward’ at jobs that never seem to be enough to pay your bills, never mind trying to get ahead and save. Today we draw a line and demand equal pay for equal work!

Here are a few statistics you can share to educate people who may not believe that equal pay for Black women is that serious of an issue. We need EVERYONE in this fight for equal pay for Black women!

From the National Women’s Law Center
Equal Pay for Black Women

• Black women working full time, year-round who have a high school degree, are typically paid only 63 cents for every dollar typically paid to white, non-Hispanic men with the same degree.
• The typical Black woman loses a staggering $840,040 to the wage gap. This means a Black woman would have to work until she is 83 years old to catch-up to what a white, non-Hispanic male earned from age 20 to 60.

From the Institute for Women’s Policy Research and the National Domestic Workers Alliance
The Status of Black Women in the United States

• Black women’s median annual earnings ($34,000 for those who work full-time, year-round) lag behind most women’s and men’s earnings in the United States.
• About 28 percent of employed Black women work in service occupations, the occupational group with the lowest wages

From the National Partnership for Women & Families
Black Women and the Wage Gap

Black women head more than four million family households in the United States. Nearly ≈1/3rd of all family households headed by Black women live below the poverty level. That equals nearly 1.3 million families are living the daily struggle of poverty in America.

What Can YOU Do?

1. On Tuesday, August 7 at 2:00 – 3:00 pm ET, join the Social Media Storm using #BlackWomensEqualPay and #Demandmore. Make sure your online network knows you stand with a Black woman’s right to equal pay!

2. Tell Your Equal Pay Story! Submit your equal pay story to WE CAN to help us educate policymakers about how pay inequality is harming you, your family and your community.

3. Follow WE CAN’s Make Work Pay Campaign to learn how you can take action for equal pay all year round!

Fighting for equal pay will take all of us, working together, to win the right to a fair wage for hard work.

Yours in the Struggle,

Stephanie

Founder and President

Women’s Equity Center and Action Network (WE CAN)