Equal Pay Day at UMass
Everywoman's Center and the UMass Labor Center will host Dr. Evelyn Murphy, President of the National WAGE Project and author of Getting Even: Why Women Don't Get Paid Like Men and What To Do About It!, who will be speaking about the reality of current wage discrimination against women in the United States and what we can do about it at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Cecelie Counts, Legislative Representative for the AFL-CIO, will speak on the status of federal pay equity legislation. A light lunch will be provided.
Equal Pay Day was originated by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) in 1996 as a public awareness event to illustrate the gap between men's and women's wages. The day, observed in April, symbolizes how far into the year a woman must work, on average, to earn as much as a man earned the previous year. The wage gap is even greater for most women of color. Women working full time - not part time, not on maternity leave - still earn only 77 cents for every full-time male dollar, and nothing has changed in more then a decade.
Here is what it looks like over a lifetime:
* If you're a young woman who graduated last summer from high school, you will earn $700,000 less than the young man standing in line with you to get his diploma over your working life.
* If you graduated from college, you'll lose $1.2 million compared to the man getting his degree along with you.
* If you graduated from law school, medical school, or got an MBA last summer, you'll lose $2 million over your lifetime.
These gender wage gap calculations are figured by comparing the earnings of all women who work full-time with the earnings of all men who work full-time. It's unfair, it's discrimination and it's illegal!
Come to this important gathering to hear these dynamic speakers address the legacy and current reality of wage discrimination! This event is free, open to the public and wheelchair accessible. Additional sponsors include: Women's Studies, Social Thought and Political Economy, the Political Economy Research Institute, and the Status of Women Council.
