April 22 is
April 22 is Equal Pay Day, and to mark it Hillary Clinton has launched a “Make Change Count” campaign. Part of the campaign is a wage gap calculator, which demonstrates that though it’s been 45 years since the Equal Pay Act was signed, there’s still a huge salary disparity between men and women of the same education levels. Apparently, women in my approximate age and education group are making an average of $13,615 less per year than our male counterparts, which is more than I ever realized despite being generally aware of the overall discrepancies in wages. It’s far worse for women from minority groups; while white women earn $0.77 for every dollar men make, Latino women earn just $0.57 and black women only $0.68. It’s a useful tool, and it’s refreshing to have prominent politicians who can and will take up the subject. Yet another benefit of having the first viable female presidential candidate.
–Kate Sheppard
