International Equal Pay Day

For the first time, gender equality ranks alongside healthcare and climate change as a top global concern . Gen Z and Millennials , the generations shaping our workplaces, our politics, and our online spaces, have sounded the alarm and put the spotlight on gender equality. But while n early a third of young people rank gender equality as urgent – 29% of Gen Z and 28% of Millennials – the majority (58%) says they don’t know how to support it. Here are three ways to start: at home, at work, and in digital spaces. These recommendations are based on Team Lewis Foundation’s latest data in support of HeForShe , the UN Women solidarity movement for gender equality.

Workers around the world look forward to payday. A paycheck may bring a sense of relief, satisfaction, or joy, but it can also represent an injustice— an expression of persistent inequalities between men and women in the workplace . Globally, the gender pay gap stands at 16% , meaning women workers earn an average of 84% of what men earn . For women of colour, immigrant women, and women with children, the difference is even greater. These discrepancies in pay add up and have real, daily negative consequences for women and their families. The adverse impacts are exacerbated even more by crises. It is estimated that the widespread effects of COVID-19 could push 96 million people into extreme poverty by 2021, bringing the total number of women and girls living on USD 1.90 per day to 435 million On the first International Equal Pay Day, 18 September, take a closer look at the gender pay gap and what can be done to close it.