#EqualPayDay — The Fight for Gender Equality Continues

Despite the strides that women have made across the globe, there continues to be a glaring divide in average wages paid to women compared to men. This gender pay gap isn’t something that’s only affecting a subset of women of one country, but this widespread dilemma touches upon all industries and countries that women work across.

The end of March (3/31) is observed as “Equal Pay Day”, bringing to light the gender pay gap. This date marks the number of extra months into the new year that women must work in order to earn what men brought in the previous year. Overall, women as a group earned 81.6 cents on a men’s dollar!

Amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic (and economic crisis), this divide marks more troublesome. For many families, women are often the main source of income. In the context of this crisis, it means that women will have less money for basic necessities and less in savings to ride a crisis of this magnitude — from paying medical bills, rent/mortgage, food, and other expenses accumulating during this time.

While the situation across the globe rapidly changes every day, we’re seeing more headlines highlight the devastating health and economic consequences. With over 3 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits, a woman’s income is now more than ever critical to a family’s economic security.

As COVID-19 continues to spread, stricter regulations and recommendations continue to be implemented on a state and federal level, we’re only going to continue to see the ill effects of the gender pay gap on families that depend on women’s income. Closing this gap requires a collective effort from all of us.