August 13, 2020
Ms. Foundation for Women on Black Women’s Equal Pay Day
Ms. Foundation for Women on Black Women’s Equal Pay Day
NEW YORK (August 13, 2020) – Ms. Foundation for Women President and CEO Teresa C. Younger released the following statement in honor of Black Women’s Equal Pay Day:
“This year, we have seen upheavals in workplaces across the country, featuring necessary conversations about transparency. And today, on Black Women’s Equal Pay Day—226 days into the year for Black women to earn what white men earned the previous year alone—the Ms. Foundation for Women echoes Black women’s outcry for pay equity.
“Based on Census data from the American Community Survey, the 2020 wage gap for Black women compared to non-Hispanic white men is 62 cents on the dollar, just one cent higher than in 2019 when we earned 61 cents. This slow creep toward equity is unacceptable. Black women receive little respect for their work, and this financial gap decimates their chances for upward mobility and belittles their power in the workplace. We can no longer allow this issue to be met with apathy.
“The failure to pay Black women equally goes beyond the finances of an individual woman or her family. It represents a broad failure to invest in them and their communities at large, and an inability to recognize the centuries of impact that Black women have had on our politics, culture, and economy for the benefit of all. It is time for that reckoning, and we urge employers to not only pay attention, but to pay Black women accordingly.
“Since 1973, the Ms. Foundation has invested over $65 million to build grassroots movements fighting for gender equity, particularly for women of color around the country. As we’ve found in our recent report, Pocket Change: How Women and Girls of Color Do More With Less, Black women and girls succeed despite their environments, resolute to make the best of their less-than-ideal situations. We owe it to them to continue our work, alongside our grantee partners, to reject racism and sexism in all its forms until all genders stand as equals, and are financially compensated as equals for their hard work.”
Ms. Foundation spokespeople are available for interviews by phone from NYC. To schedule, please contact Sunshine Sachs at [email protected].
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For 45 years, the Ms. Foundation for Women has worked to build women’s collective power in the U.S. to advance equity and justice for all. The Ms. Foundation invests in, and strengthens the capacity of women led movements to advance meaningful social, cultural, and economic change in the lives of women. With equity and inclusion as the cornerstones of true democracy, the Ms. Foundation works to create a world in which the worth and dignity of every person are valued, and power and possibility are not limited by gender, race, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or age.