Women Deserve Their 20%
Today is Equal Pay Day. Women need to work this far into 2017 to catch up with what men earned in 2016.
The fact that women on average are paid 20% less than men negatively impacts their lives every single day. The average woman could pay for 78 more weeks of groceries or almost a year’s more rent if she earned what the average man does. That doesn’t just hurt women—it hurts their families too.
Watch this video by LeanIn.Org, Funny Or Die, and Hulu to see what 20% less looks like in women’s everyday lives:
If you break the gender pay gap down by race and ethnicity, it is even worse: Black women are paid 37% less and Hispanic women are paid 46% less. That means Black women need to work until July 31st and Hispanic women need to work until November 2nd to catch up.
The gender pay gap is not due to women’s choices, and it’s not because women aren’t educated or hard-working enough. Even when you control for differences in hours worked, occupation and industry, and level of education, a pay gap exists. Simply put, the gender pay gap is real.
But at the current rate of progress, it will take 44 years to close the gender pay gap in the United States, and far longer globally. None of us can afford to wait that long.
#20PercentCounts highlights the unfairness of the gender pay gap and the benefits of closing it.
If we closed the pay gap in the U.S., the average woman would earn $530,000 more over the course of her career. We would lift more than three million working women and their families out of poverty. And we’d add $513 billion in income to the U.S. economy, almost as much as the GDP of Sweden.
Today, LeanIn.Org is launching #20PercentCounts to highlight the unfairness of the gender pay gap and the benefits of closing it. In support of the campaign, Lean In community leaders in 25 U.S. cities signed up hundreds of businesses to offer 20% discounts. At Brunswick Café in Brooklyn, you’ll pay 20% less for your morning coffee. At Rachel Young’s Art in Phoenix, you can take any class at a discount. At Tin Pot Creamery in Palo Alto, scoops are 20% off. In addition, Lyft is donating 20% of today’s ride fares to organizations that help women and families, P&G is offering a rebate on all their brands, and LUNA is discounting their energy bars. As people across the country go about their day, they’ll experience the difference 20% makes firsthand.
This whole idea was inspired by Lean In DC, a chapter of small peer support groups called Lean In Circles. Since 2014, Lean In DC has partnered with local businesses to offer discounts commensurate with the gender pay gap. Last summer we asked our community if they wanted to extend the idea to their cities, and the response was an overwhelming yes. (At leanin.org/equalpay, you can meet the can-do women behind the campaign.)
We asked our community if they wanted to extend the idea to their cities, and the response was an overwhelming yes.
Public awareness is important; taking action is even better. Elected officials have a critical role to play in passing and enforcing anti-discrimination laws. Businesses need to audit pay by gender and race so they can address pay gaps and take steps to ensure performance reviews and promotions are fair. We all need to celebrate, and not penalize, women when they advocate for themselves and ask for more.
It’s just plain wrong that so many women work hard every day for less money. Women and families deserve their 20% today and every day.
Please show your support for equal pay with the hashtag #20PercentCounts.
At leanin.org/equalpay, you can also learn more about the gender pay gap (including sources for the research cited in this post) and see offers from participating businesses.