When is Black Women’s Equal Pay Day in 2018?

You’ve likely been hearing a lot about Equal Pay Day recently. That’s because the day that’s currently held to recognize the pay discrepancies between men and women is fast-approaching on April 10th. But women belonging to minorities are also given the opportunity to celebrate their own Equal Pay Days. If you’re wondering when Black Women’s Equal Pay Day is, don’t worry — we’re a few months out from the important and inclusive day.

According to Equal Pay Today, Black Women’s Equal Pay Day will fall on August 7th, 2018.

Last year, Black Women’s Equal Pay Day was celebrated on July 31st. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the day is marked by how far along into the year a black woman would have to work in order to make as much money as her male peers in the previous year. Since this year’s date is in August, that means that black women would have to work for seven months to make as much as men did in 2017. Though most women are said to make 80 cents to every dollar that their male counterparts make, there’s more to discover about the wage gap when you break it down by race. Black women currently make 63 cents to every dollar paid to white males.

"Since few black women are among the top 5% of earners in this country, they have experienced the relatively slow wage growth that characterizes growing class inequality along with the vast majority of other Americans," the Institute points out. "But in addition to this class inequality, they also experience lower pay due to gender and race bias."

We won’t get to recognize Black Women’s Equal Pay day for another few months, but that doesn’t make it any less important to add race-specific wage gaps to the conversation when discussing women’s rights.