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From June 2001 NASW NEWS Minority women make 52 percent to 65 percent of men's salaries. NASW on April 3 joined with the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) to observe Equal Pay Day, a national day of action to promote fair pay and economic justice for women and minorities. The Tuesday date symbolized the day women's wages catch up to and equal men's wages from the previous week. NCPE, founded in 1979, is a national membership coalition of more than 80 organizations, including labor unions; women's and civil rights organizations; religious, professional, education and legal associations; commissions on women; state and local pay-equity coalitions; and individual women and men working to eliminate sex- and race-based wage discrimination and to achieve pay equity. "Social workers across the nation can use Equal Pay Day as an opportunity to increase awareness and redress the economic inequalities experienced by women and minorities," said Evelyn Tomaszewski, NASW staff for the Committee on Women's Issues. Tomaszewski added that pay equity benefits not only women, but also men and children by increasing total family income. According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, the average 25-year-old working woman will lose more than $523,000 to unequal pay during her working life. Figures released by the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor show that in 1999, the median annual earnings of women were 72 percent of the median annual earnings of men, with minority women making 52 percent to 65 percent of Caucasian men's salaries. NCPE Web site: www.feminist.com/fairpay/ Back to NASW NEWS Contents
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