Equal Pay Day

Tuesday, April 12, was Equal Pay Day! Equal Pay Day symbolizes how far women have to work into 2011 in order to make what men did in 2010. Equal Pay Day was created in 1996 by the National Committee on Pay Equity. The goal of this day was to bring public awareness to the wage gap between the genders. Since women make less money than men, on average, women have to work longer in order to make the same amount of pay as men.

Nationally, women make an average of 77 cents to every man’s dollar. In an American Association for University Women (AAUW) state-by-state analysis, research shows that the 2010 median earnings for full-time, year round workers, ages 16 and older, including all educational levels for Nebraskan males was $40,860, while females only made $30,885. Thus, the earnings ratio for females in Nebraska is only 76% of males’ earnings.

The wage gap that persists in Nebraska causes women to lose out on hundreds of thousands of dollars over a long period of time. The Center for American Progress has issued an interactive map that displays the persistent career wage gap. This interactive map shows that the career wage gap over a 40 year period for Nebraskan women amounts to $368,000. For Nebraskan women who have had some college education, the career wage gap over a 40 year period amounts to $435,000. As women obtain more education, the wage gap widens--Nebraskan women who have obtained at least a bachelor’s degree, the career wage gap over a 40 year period amounts to $523,000.