YWCA, community partners hold Equal Pay Day rally

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - Almost 60 years after President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law, a gender pay gap still exists.

That’s why the YWCA North Central Indiana and community partners held the Equal Pay Day rally in downtown South Bend on Wednesday.

“You see a lot of women working two jobs. You see women here that come to the YWCA shelter, and frequently they sometimes will go back to their abuser because they are afraid they can’t earn a living on their own, so the ramifications for unequal pay are really - can be very extreme,” explained Susan Tybon, CEO of YWCA North Central Indiana.

March 14th is when Equal Pay Day falls - the 2.5-month mark into the new year. According to Tybon, the average white woman has to work an additional two and a half months to make the same amount of money that the average white man makes by the end of a year.

The disparity is even more stark for women of color. The U.S. Census Bureau reports black women earn 58 percent of what white men make while Latina woman make 54 percent of the average white man’s wages.

“The wage gap traps a woman of color in a world of economic insecurity. Closing the wage gap is really important for the health and well-being of all of our women and family,” said Autumn McCully, YWCA Vice President of Empowerment Services.

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