Equal Pay Day

This symbolic day denotes how far into the year women must work to be paid what men were paid the previous year. This date is based on the latest U.S. Census figures showing that the average woman who works full time is paid on average just 83 percent of the typical man’s pay. Started by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) in 1996, the goal of Equal Pay Day is to raise awareness about the gender wage gap.  But because the pay gap varies significantly among different communities, other Equal Pay Days have been added to the calendar to reflect that fact that many women must work far longer into the year to catch up to men.