Equal Pay Day is quickly approaching on Tuesday, April 20, and AAUW members and supporters across the country are already planning events to mark this symbolic day when women's wages catch up to men's wages from the year before.  If you haven't started yet organizing educational and promotional events for your community, it's not too late! 

More than 46 years after passage of the Equal Pay Act, women continue to earn only 77 cents on the dollar to their male counterparts.  Minority women face an even larger wage gap. Pay disparities affect women of all ages, races, and education levels-regardless of their family decisions.   Equal Pay Day is a great time to organize events and actions to engage and inform your community about wage discrimination and the work being done to end it.

Last week, we marked the anniversary of the enactment of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and pushed for passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act.  In his State of the Union address, President Obama brought the issue to a national audience, asserting "We're going to crack down on violations of equal pay laws - so that women get equal pay for an equal day's work." The White House also announced the establishment of a National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force to improve compliance, public education, and enforcement of equal pay laws.  And Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis wrote on the White House blog, reiterating that pay equity is " Not Just a 'Women's Issue.'"

You can help keep pay equity on the front burner of the national agenda by planning your Equal Pay Day activities now!

Take Action!

Here are just a few of the ways you can get involved with Equal Pay Day on Tuesday, April 20:

• Visit AAUW's Pay Equity webpage and download the Pay Equity Resource Kit and Equal Pay Day Program in a Box for ideas, tips, and resources to use in your community on Equal Pay Day and throughout the year. Examples of activities include a pay equity bake sale or "unhappy hour," where women get a 23 percent discount while men pay full price, a rally at your state capital, and Equal Pay Day proclamations by your state and local public officials. 

• Order free AAUW "Pay Gap = Women at a Discount" posters (shown below) and stickers for use at AAUW events, meetings, rallies, and even protests.

• Use AAUW's talking points about the Paycheck Fairness Act and your state's wage gap data to write a  letter to the editor of your local paper.  Find out if your senators are cosponsors, and if they're not, urge them to get on board. 

• Show your senators the Face of Pay Equity!  Upload a picture of yourself to send with your message urging them to quickly move the Paycheck Fairness Act, a much-needed update to the Equal Pay Act. 

• Schedule an in-district meeting with your public officials and encourage them to support pay equity legislation.

• Check out AAUW's 2009 Equal Pay Day web page to see what AAUW branches and states did to mark the day last year and get ideas for this year.

• Host or attend a $tart $mart salary negotiation workshop in your community. 

• Read AAUW's Behind the Pay Gap research, that shows just one year out of college, working women already earn less than their male colleagues earn, even when they work in the same field with the same degree. 

• Share your thoughts about pay equity on AAUW Dialog, Facebook, and Twitter. 

• Visit the AAUW Member Showcase and contact your local branch for more information on events in your area.

• Let us know what you're doing to mark this day. 

These are just a few of the ways you can get involved with Equal Pay Day.  Together, we'll be a mighty presence across the nation as we continue the fight for pay equity