Equal Pay Day is celebrated to raise awareness about the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap is the average difference between the pay that is provided in exchange for an employee’s service performed for men and women who are working. The wage gap can be due to different causes, such as educational choices, in preferred job and industry, differences in the type of designation. This day symbolize how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year, the exact year differs both by year and country. Equal pay day is set on the day in the year when a woman would have finally caught up with her male contemporaries wages from the previous year.

Equal pay for equal work is the concept of labor rights that individuals in the same workplace be given equal pay.it is most commonly used in the case of sexual discrimination

History of Equal Pay Day

The first Equal pay day was observed in 1996 by the National Committee on Pay Equality which is the organization who work for women’s civil rights, labor unions, professional association to eliminate sex and race-based wage discrimination and to achieve pay equality. Since President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963, it has been illegal in the United States to pay men and women working in the same place different salaries for similar work.

When is Equal Pay Day in 2019?

It will be held on Tuesday, April 2, 2019.

In Europe, it was celebrated on 27 February.

How it is Calculated?

We calculate Equal Pay Day by multiplying the size of the gender pay gap by the number of days in a year, giving the pay gap as a number of days. We then count this back from the end of the year to get to 10 November.

How People Are Fighting for Equal Pay Day?

The Fawcett Society and legal charity YESS law are launching a new Equal Pay Advice Service to mark the day. The service aims to sup[port those peoples who are on low income and believe they are facing pay discrimination and can’t access legal advice. They also launched a fundraising page for the service on GoFundMe.

In June, Carrie Gracie, the BBC,s former China editor, said she would donate the backpay she received from the BBC to the Fawcett Society to help establish their Equal by Fund.

How to Celebrate Equal Pay Day 2019?

You can celebrate this day by raising awareness of the ongoing struggle women have with getting equal pay for equal work. The NCPE also invites people from all over to start a wage club in their community. A wage club is a space designed to “allow women to gather regularly to participate in a series of discussions and strategy sessions to help each other take action to close the wage gap in their workplace.

NCPE also suggest ways to make your voice heard in your local community or local government by writing a letter to the editor and writing to your mayor to officially declare the day as Equal Pay Day.