Around Des Moines

Today, April 22, 2008, is Equal Pay Day. This date symbolizes how far into 2008 women must work, on average, to earn as much pay as men earned in 2007. Started by the National Committee on Pay Equity in 1996, Equal Pay Day is held each year on a Tuesday to symbolize how far into each week women must work to earn as much as men were paid the previous week. Equal Pay Day is an echo of Tax Freedom Day, which is a registered trademark of the Tax Foundation.

Tax Freedom Day represents the day, on average, when Americans have worked long enough to pay their taxes for the year. The Tax Foundation also includes information on how many days Americans work to earn money to spend money on clothing, recreation, food, and other items. In 2008, Tax Freedom Day falls on April 23rd. According to the Tax Foundation 2008’s day arrives three days earlier than in 2007 due to economic stimulus checks and a slowing economy.

The 2007 Supreme Court decision against Lilly Ledbetter offers a stark reminder of the long-term damage lower wages earned by women have over the course of their lifetimes. Ledbetter sued Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. for pay discrimination but the Court ruled that the discrimination occurred too many years ago for the suit to be valid. Yet, many women do not discover pay discrepancies until years after the first act. After a decade of raises, bonuses, and cost of living adjustments based on a percentage of pay, that first pay check gap will grow dramatically. Add in calculations for lost contributions to retirement funds and spare cash to invest and the wealth gap also grows.

Imagine a man makes $25 per calendar quarter but a woman makes only $20 and both started their jobs in January 1995. By December 1995, the man would have $100 but the woman would not have $100 until March 1996. By December 1996, the man would have another $100 but the woman would have to wait until June 1997 for hers. By the end of 2005, the man would have $1,100. The woman will still be working for that amount until December 2008. In real world terms, a man making $40,000 a year, which is close to the median Iowa income, would have $112,000 more than a woman making $32,000 a year over the course of the 14 years from January 1995 to December 2008. That difference creates a significant impact on the type of house that could be bought, the type of business that could be started, and the type of recreation that could be enjoyed.

Instead of recognizing Equal Pay Day in April, I favor a September date. I find it much more powerful to tell men around the autumnal equinox that they can have the rest of the year off with pay but the women must keep working through December. We also need to discuss the greater gender gap in part-time pay.

M.R. Field has written on women’s economic issues for several years.