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July 31st is Black Women's Equal Pay Day

deltagamma1943
Jul 31, 2017
2 min read

Though the wage gap is around 80 cents to the dollar on average, it's even more pronounced when you break it down by race. Black women make only 67 cents to men's dollar, and this disparity has only gotten worse over the past few decades. In order for black women to earn as much as non-Hispanic white men earn in a year, they'd have to work 19 months. That's why Black Women’s Equal Pay Dayfalls on July 31st: to represent that extra seven months of essentially free labor. (Equal Pay Day fell on April 4th this year to represent the average 80-cents-to-the-dollar figure.)

"Pay inequity directly touches the lives of black women in at least three distinct ways," a blog post by the Economic Policy Institute explains. "Since few black women are among the top five percent of earners in this country, they have experienced the relatively slow wage growth that characterizes growing class inequality along with the vast majority of other Americans. But in addition to this class inequality, they also experience lower pay due to gender and race bias." Black women not only get paid less than white women but also work longer hours, it adds.

Black women aren't the only ones suffering financially for both their gender and their race. Hispanic women, for example, make only 59 cents for every dollar white, non-Hispanic men make. The World Economic Forum has estimated that at this rate, it will take 232 years before Hispanic women achieve wage equality and 108 years before black women will.

Acknowledging race-specific wage gaps is critical because fighting for women's rights means fighting for all women, and we can't do that without addressing the injustices specific groups of women face. This day should serve as a reminder than in order to achieve gender equality, we have to achieve racial equality as well.

Important Dates to Remember to help stand up for all women: