March 15 Is Equal Pay Day
March 15 is Equal Pay Day 2022, a day that symbolizes the extra days an average women must work to catch up to what the average man earned the previous year. According to current data from the American Association of University Women, women earn 83 cents, on average, for every dollar earned by men. For women of color, the gap is even worse.
The date of Equal Pay Day changes from year to year as the situation improves — no gender pay gap would mean Equal Pay Day lands on Jan. 1 — and red is worn on this day as a symbol of how far women and minorities are "in the red." In 2019, Equal Pay Day was April 2. In 2020 it was March 31. in 2021 it was March 24 and this year it is March 15, indicating that incremental progress is occurring.
Join the Copper Country League of Women Voters, the Graduate School, Institutional Equity and other supporters by wearing red to recognize Equal Pay Day. And, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on March 15, volunteers will gather at the Husky statue in front of the library to hand out literature and cookies marking Equal Pay Day.
Join us! Find out what you can do to help close the gap.