This article was adapted from a blog post that originally appeared on Equal Rights Advocates’ website.
Sept. 8, 2022, is Moms’ Equal Pay Day—the day in 2022 when the average working mom’s pay finally catches up to what the average dad earned in 2021.
For every dollar paid to a working dad, moms only make 58 cents. In other words, it takes moms roughly an extra nine months to earn what dads earn. The data used to calculate Moms Equal Pay Day includes full-time, part-time, gig, seasonal and contract workers. (Read more about mission of Equal Pay Today, a project of Equal Rights Advocates, by clicking here.)
Here are some ways to take action help raise awareness about #MomsEqualPay Day:
1. Join the Twitterstorm on Sept. 8 at 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET
Use the hashtag #MomsEqualPay to help raise awareness about the wage gap and its impact on moms and their families. Use the social media toolkit linked here—complete with pre-drafted tweets, graphics and more—to engage in a robust online dialogue with advocates and moms across the nation.
2. Learn the Facts
Moms know the value of hard work—being a parent is a full-time job in itself.
- The “motherhood penalty” is a well-documented phenomenon that moms earn lower lifetime earnings and opportunities due to sexist attitudes and assumptions about their capabilities as working mothers.
- It is imperative that employers enact and employees voice support for policies that are dedicated to gender equity. Pay transparency and equal pay practices like regular audits can help identify disparities that negatively impact working moms.
- Access to abortion since the devastating overturn of Roe v . Wade is synonymous with economic privilege. Moms and uterine bearing people need equal pay now more than ever. (Read our full statement here.)
- Black mothers are leading so much of the organizing against police violence and anti-Black racism, including how it shows up in the workplace.
- LGBTQ women of color are more likely to be raising kids than their white counterparts, but also more likely to be living in poverty—in part due to pay discrimination.
3. Support Pay Transparency for Pay Equity (California Residents Only)
Pay transparency is key to ensuring that companies take proactive and meaningful steps to close gender and racial pay gaps and ensure better representation of women and people of color at higher wage levels within their companies. We are so pleased to see one of our Stronger California priority bills awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature.
If you live in California, we urge you send a pre-drafted email asking the governor to sign SB 1162 into law.
4. Read up on “Family Voices Unmasked”
From debt to childcare, the pandemic exacerbated barriers for working moms tenfold. Our Family Voices Amplified survey captures the economic reality of over 600 women, mostly Black and Latinx. Learn how you can support and advocate for policies in 2022 and beyond.
Read the survey, and learn how you can uplift Black and Latinx women.
U.S. democracy is at a dangerous inflection point—from the demise of abortion rights, to a lack of pay equity and parental leave, to skyrocketing maternal mortality, and attacks on trans health. Left unchecked, these crises will lead to wider gaps in political participation and representation. For 50 years, Ms. has been forging feminist journalism—reporting, rebelling and truth-telling from the front-lines, championing the Equal Rights Amendment, and centering the stories of those most impacted. With all that’s at stake for equality, we are redoubling our commitment for the next 50 years. In turn, we need your help, Support Ms. today with a donation—any amount that is meaningful to you. For as little as $5 each month, you’ll receive the print magazine along with our e-newsletters, action alerts, and invitations to Ms. Studios events and podcasts. We are grateful for your loyalty and ferocity.
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