The Healdsburg AAUW is hosting an “unhappy hour” event on Equal Pay Day, April 2, to highlight the issue of unequal pay between women and men.
From 4 to 6 p.m. at Duke’s Spirited Cocktails, women will receive a 20 percent discount on drinks in acknowledgment of the gender pay gap. Men will not receive the discount but are welcome to attend.
“We want to bring attention to the issue that women with the same training and qualifications make 80 cents for every dollar a man receives,” said event organizer Hillary Kambour.
Wine and spirits from local female vintners and distillers will also be served. There will also be a special drink on hand, “Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Punch,” a specialty cocktail named after Ledbetter, who inspired the passage of the Fair Pay Act of 2009.
Ledbetter was also the plaintiff in the American employment discrimination case Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
In years past, the organization has held similar events as a way to bring attention to the problem of the pay gap. In 2016 they set up a booth in front of Big John’s Market and sold Costeaux-made, whole cookies to women.
Men who purchased the $1 cookie received one with 21 percent of it missing.
“Once in awhile you would see a guy say, ‘Wait, that part is not there,’ and the light bulb would go off,” Kambour said of the cookie sales.
According to the latest statistics from the National Committee on Pay Equity in 2017, women’s earnings amounted to $41,977, whereas men’s reached $52,146, a $10,169 or 24.2 percent difference.
Kambour said the most concerning aspect about the gap is whether or not women can support their families.
“If a woman cannot support her family the same way a man can, then that is a major issue, especially for single women,” Kambour said. “For all women it is a concern. There should be equality for all.”
Typically, women who work full-time earn about 80 cents for every dollar a full-time male worker receives.
According to the same committee, since the Equal Pay Act was signed in 1963, the wage gap has narrowed less than half a cent per year. Plus, over the past 40 years, the median earnings of women have fallen short by an estimated $700,000 to $2 million per 47-year career span.
For a high school graduate, this amounts to a $700,000 loss, a $1.2 million loss for college graduates and a $2 million loss for a professional school graduate, according to Economist and Wage Project president, Evelyn Murphy.
Additionally, based on 2015 research from the Institute for Women’s Policy, women will not receive equal pay until 2059.
When asked if people are surprised about how wide the pay gap is, Kambour said, “People ask, ‘Really? In this day and age?’”
Un-happy hour will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. at 111 Plaza St. in Healdsburg.
