2019 National Equal Pay Day: Moving the Needle for all Working Women in Boston and Beyond
In a city where women make up more than half the residents and half the workforce, pay equity in Boston is not only a moral imperative, it is an economic imperative. That’s what we, the Boston Women's Workforce Council (BWWC), a public-private partnership between Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the Boston business community, aim to do by implementing the 100% Talent Compact, a first-in-the-nation approach to reaching pay equity for working women. To this day, over 250 Boston-area employers have pledged to closing the gender pay gaps in our city.
As we work to help advance women in the workplace, studying the progress against the national status on women’s advancement is essential to our work.
Origin of National Equal Pay Day
Originated in 1996, the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) created Equal Pay Day as a public awareness event to commemorate the pay inequities between men and women. The event takes place on a Tuesday in April every year to represent how far into the next work week women must work to earn what men earned the previous week.
According to a Census Bureau report released last year, women earned 80.5 cents for every dollar men earned in 2017. In other words, The median salaries of all full-time, year-round workers showed women earning $41,977 compared to $52,146 for men in 2017. Equal Pay Days symbolize how far into the year women in the designated groups have to work to earn what white men earned.
Equal Pay. Equal Opportunity. 100% Talent.
The Boston Women's Workforce Council believes that the first step to solving a problem is by measuring it. That's why the BWWC conducts biennial reports on the status of the wage gap in greater Boston and what employers can do to close it. By joining the 100% Talent Compact, employers pledge to anonymously and securely participate in this process.
2017 Report
Our reports feature first-of-its-kind wage data from real employers, broken down by race and gender. In September 2017, 114 employers participated in the BWWC’ s second biennial data reporting cycle. These businesses and nonprofits reported data on almost 167,000 employees - roughly 16% of the Greater Boston workforce, representing $15 billion in annual earnings. The data indicated that women, on average, earned 76 cents to a man’s dollar. This gender pay gap varied by job category and race, with women of color earning on average significantly less than White women.
Gender is assumed to be self-identifed, but is based on the EEOC’s gender binary options, so does not capture the gender spectrum.
2019 Report
In partnership with over 250 businesses in the Boston area and the Hariri Institute for Computing at Boston University, we will hold several training sessions throughout the summer to prepare members to create the third biennial data report this September. To learn more about the data measurement process, visit this page.
(Updated 03/26/2020): Our 2019 report features first-of-its-kind wage data from real employers, broken down by race and gender. It analyzes data from 123 companies and 140,000 employees, representing $12.2 billion in annual earnings. Extras include: 2019 Innovative Initiative winners and 2020 Goals. View it here.
Get Involved
Whether you’re an employer or an individual, everyone has a stake in this mission. You can join the movement in removing barriers for women in the workplace:
Participate in the 2019 Data Cycle
Our next data report is set to be released late Fall 2019. If you are a 100% Talent Compact Member, we have prepared a process to ensure a smooth measurement cycle, including FAQs, data training workshops, a hotline, and more. (Updated 03/26/2020): The 2019 Report is now available! View and download here.
Not a signer? Join the 100% Talent Compact
If your business is committed to gender equity and looking to make an impact in the City of Boston, join over 250 businesses pledging to take concrete, measurable steps to eliminate the wage gap in their company and in Boston. To learn more, click here.
Attend or Host a Salary Negotiation Workshop
The Mayor’s Office of Women’s Advancement partnered with the American Association of University Women (AAUW) to offer free salary negotiation workshops for women in Boston. Individuals can attend a workshop near them or employers can host a workshop. Just announced: individuals can now attend a workshop online. Visit their website to learn more.
Join Our Community
We’ve created a space for 100% Talent Compact members to stay in touch in between events, data reports, and other BWWC happenings. Open to all in the 100% Talent Compact. Learn how to join here.
Post a Job on 100% Talent Job Board
We want to build a bridge between 100% Talent Compact signers, so we built the 100% Talent job board. A place where Compact signers can post their open positions and recruit a diverse talent pool.
We are grateful for the commitment of so many Boston area companies to participating in our wage gap measurement process. Together we will make Boston the best place in the US for working women. Questions? Email us at team@thebwwc.org