A holiday that’s observed all around the world on the 11th of January is International Parity at Work Day. What’s the purpose of this holiday? It’s a day to promote equitable pay for all workers, despite their race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. Currently, the women of the world only make up about 84% of what men earn on average.
And for women who are immigrants, people of color, or who practice a religion that’s different from the main religion of the dominant culture, then there can be even more disparity. That’s why it’s important for everyone to stand up for parity in society, and a great place to start is in the workplace.
The History Of International Parity At Work Day
This holiday can be traced back to January 11th, 2017. This is when there was an inaugural event in London that featured seminars, performances, and dialogues all dedicated to raising awareness about pay discrimination.
This international event not only included the business communities of the United Kingdom but also included the business communities of Australia, Japan, Sri Lanka, and the United States. It’s been observed annually ever since.
Some Important Facts About Pay Disparity
Below are some important facts about pay disparity that we think everyone should know about. While we were doing this holiday, we wanted to present our readers with some statistics and facts that would illustrate the scope of pay disparity in the workplace.
We think that the following facts should do just that. Of course, there’s a lot more that can be said on this subject, so we do hope that the following points also inspire people to do more research for themselves on the subject.
- According to 2020 data, women earned approximately 82.3 cents for every dollar that a man earned.
- In 1973, women only earned about 57 cents per dollar earned by a man.
- The COVID-19 Pandemic has set women’s labor force participation back more than 30 years.
- Thanks to the pandemic, women’s labor force participation rate dropped to 55.8% in 2021, that’s about the same rate as labor force participation for women in 1987.
- In over 350 different occupations, women earned significantly less than men.
- There are only a handful of occupations where women earn slightly more than men. One such area is health care social workers.
Observing International Parity At Work Day
The best way for people to observe International Parity at Work Day is by taking the time to network with other people to discuss the issues of pay discrimination in the workplace. It’s also a good day for businesses to come together to discuss the importance of them offering equal pay to people who do the same job. And people can spread the word about this holiday using the hashtag #InternationalParityAtWorkDay on social media.
When is International Parity At Work Day? |
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| This year (2023) | January 11 (Wednesday) |
| Next year (2024) | January 11 (Thursday) |
| Last year (2022) | January 11 (Tuesday) |