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March 24, 2021

Ms. Foundation for Women on Equal Pay Day 2021

Ms. Foundation for Women on Equal Pay Day

NEW YORK (March 24, 2021) – Ms. Foundation for Women President and CEO Teresa C. Younger released the following statement on Equal Pay Day:

“This year, Equal Pay Day for women falls nearly four months into the year, at a time when women are continuing to bear the worst impact of the pandemic between losing jobs, cut hours, and facing general economic barriers that are gravely impacting their everyday lives.

“COVID-19 derailed jobs, career plans, and upward mobility for women and we know the impact on wage equality will be significant and long-lasting. Since 2020, more than 2.3 million women have left the workforce due to layoffs and other factors such as leaving work to care for their children while school is not in session, having to care for sick family members, and more. Women who are the sole providers for their families have faced impossible decisions: whether to leave children at home alone when they go to work or whether the choices they make will mean they lose the job that provides for their family. This is a lose-lose-lose situation that no one should ever have to endure.

“There is clear data about how the public health crisis has continued to exacerbate the existing pay disparity between genders; with women earning on average just 82 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts, as noted by the NWLC. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the pandemic has reversed the progress of gender equality in the workplace to 2017, and will continue to set back women’s pay equity for years to come.  On average, women will have to work 15 months to earn what men did in 2020, and we know that this is even bleaker for women of color. Black women, Native women, and Latina women will have to work into August, September, and October, respectively, just to attain the same status that their white male counterparts earned in the previous year alone. Additionally, it is important to note that AAPI Women’s Equal Pay Day falls in March, but certain AAPI communities – such as Burmese women and Hmong women who earn $0.61 and $0.52 for every $1.00 paid white male – are among some of the lowest waged people in the country.

“The Ms. Foundation for Women and our grantee-partners will continue to fight until pay equity is a reality for all. We call on policymakers, business leaders, and every sector to not only welcome women back to the workforce with the support they need, but also to treat, and pay, them equally for their work.”

Ms. Foundation spokespeople are available for interviews by phone or video from NYC. To schedule, please contact Sunshine Sachs at [email protected].

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For over 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 women’s lives. With equity and inclusion as the cornerstones of true democracy, the Ms. Foundation works to create a world where every person’s worth and dignity are valued, and power and possibility are not limited by gender, race, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or age.