Equal Pay Day, first observed in 1996, was established by the National Committee on Pay Equity to bring awareness to gender disparities in wages. While Equal Pay Day for all women was on March 24 of this year, and Black Women’s Equal Pay Day was on August 3, Latina Equal Pay Day is observed on October 21.
October 21 marks the time it takes the average Latina woman, working full-time year-round, to earn what the average white non-Hispanic man earns in one year. That’s almost eleven extra months of work. Latina Equal Pay Day is the last Equal Pay Day observance of the year, making Latina women the demographic most affected by gender pay gaps.
According to the Equal Pay Today campaign, Latina women on average make 57 cents for each dollar white men earn. At the current rate, it will take more than 200 years before the salaries of Latina women catch up to those of white men.
Pay discrimination for Latina women begins at age 16 and only widens with time, according to Lean In. Over their lifetime, Latina women may lose over $1 million in wages. This disparity also impacts the families and communities these women support.
To ensure that Latina women are uplifted by their employers, companies can create policies to prevent workplace discrimination by race and gender and regularly reassess pay equity practices. While awareness is key, any progress forward requires actionable steps to be taken.
Below are some resources to find more information about Latina Equal Pay Day:
Read and Watch:
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- Lean In | Latinas Aren’t Paid Fairly- and That’s Just the Tip of the Iceberg
- Equal Pay Today | Latina Women’s Equal Pay Day
- Latinas in Business | It Will Take Two Centuries for the Gender Wage Gap to Close for Latinas if We Do Nothing
- American Association of University Women | Latinas and the Pay Gap
- National Partnership for Women & Families | Beyond Wages: Effects of the Latina Wage Gap
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Events:
Engage:
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- Oversee salary analyses to identify and address any issues.
- Bring in experts on pay equity to educate employees.
- Evaluate job descriptions to ensure that those who have the same title and are doing equal work are being compensated accurately.
- Share data and social media content from LatinaEqualPay.org.
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