March 9 is #AAPIEqualPay Day—the approximate day in 2021 when the average Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) woman working full-time year round finally catches up to what the average white, non-Hispanic man earned in 2020.
Because AAPI women are paid only 85 cents on average for every dollar paid to white men, this means AAPI women must work a total of 15 months to earn what white men earn in just 12.
The gender wage gap varies greatly among AAPI women, including some of the widest gaps among all American women. For instance, the Center for American Progress calculates that Vietnamese women earn 63 cents to the white man’s dollar and Burmese women earn 52 cents to the white man’s dollar.
It is one thing to experience gender discrimination, and another to experience racial discrimination. For women of color who sit at the intersection of race AND gender discrimination, the impact felt is magnified, and this is no different for AAPI women.
Raise awareness about #AAPIEqualPay Day with us in several ways on March 9:
1. Join the Twitterstorm from 11:00am-12:00pm PT/2:00pm-3:00pm ET
Join the conversation
Use the hashtag #AAPIEqualPay to help us raise awareness about the wage gap for AAPI women and its impact on AAPI women and their families. Use the social media toolkit linked above to engage in a robust online dialogue with advocates and community members across the nation.
2. Attend an online event
After the Twitterstorm, our partners at the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) will be hosting a free event via Zoom and Facebook Live, “The Wage Gap and Economic Justice for AAPI Women,” at 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. PT/6:30 – 7:30 p.m. ET. The panel will discuss economic justice and how (un)equal pay touches every part of AAPI women’s lives, including their ability to weather the pandemic.
Register for the event (Free)
3. Donate to support #AAPIEqualPay.
Support the work of Equal Rights Advocates, and our national coalition project Equal Pay Today, in our fight to close gender and racial wage gaps. Every gift helps make a difference!