257 years – How long will it take to bridge the pay gap between the wages of men and women, according to the World Economic Forum. This quantification shows that human society has economically outstripped women for over two and a half centuries, even if we set aside centuries of oppression and other inequalities.
“Globally, despite decades of activism and dozens of laws on equal pay, women still earn less than 80 cents per dollar,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement. Guterres stresses that this disparity is even greater for women with children, women of color, female migrants and refugees, and women with disabilities.
To build momentum around the urgent need to address the gender pay gap, the United Nations observes International Equal Pay Day on 18 September each year. The first International Equal Pay Day was celebrated in 2020 and this year is the second edition of this international reminder. The event represents the long-standing struggle of women for equal pay for work of equal value. Currently, on a global average, women earn 23% less than men for work of the same value.
According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2021 by the World Economic Forum, India is ranked 151 out of 156 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index for Economic Participation and Opportunity. Barring Afghanistan and Pakistan, every other South Asian country on the index has better economic conditions for women than India.
In the United States, Equal Pay Day also represents the women’s movement for equal pay as long as women work to earn more than their male counterparts have earned during the previous year. For example, it was March 24 for 2021, which means that the amount of money a man would earn in his job in the year 2020, a woman would have to work from January 1, 2020 to March 24, 2021. Choose to wear something red on Equal Pay Day to participate in the Equal Pay Day movement, in this case, March 24, 2021.
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