Black Women's Equal Pay Day reminds us of continuing women's pay gap

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Tuesday, August 7, 2018
Gender pay gap
The gender pay gap affects nearly every industry. It's worse for women of color.

On average, a black woman must work more than eight additional months to earn what, on average, a white man earns in one year, according to the organizers of Black Women's Equal Pay Day.



Black Women's Equal Pay Day is observed on August 7. It sparked a social media storm with hashtags #BlackWomensEqualPay and #DemandMore both trending on Twitter.



According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, black women earn 96 percent as much as their black male counterparts, and earn nearly 83 percent as much as a white women in the workforce.



The news for black women is not promising if nothing is done. Black women may not see equal pay until 2124 if current trends continue, the think tank Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) found.



Groups like the Equal Pay Today! Campaign are working to help erase the pay gap for black women by shining a spotlight on the fact that such a gap still exists in 2018.



ABC News contributed to this report.

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