Today is Equal Pay Day, a date that symbolizes how far into 2016 the average woman would have to work just to make as much money as the average man made in 2015.
Women make, on average, 80 cents for every dollar a man makes -- a wage gap that only adds up over time. Over a 40-year career, the average woman will be underpaid by $430,480 compared to the average man.
- $430,480 over a career could mean the difference between owning a home and building up equity, or having to rent and walking away with nothing.
- $430,480 over a career could mean the difference between being able to retire comfortably with a nice nest egg, or barely scraping by on Social Security.
- $430,480 over a career could mean the difference between being able to save up for the kids' college tuition, or watching them graduate under a mountain of debt.
The situation is even worse for unmarried women -- who only make 60 cents for every dollar the average man makes. Find out what the wage gap is for unmarried women in your state using our new interactive map.
And unmarried women of color suffer the most from the wage gap -- with the average unmarried Latina or unmarried Native American woman making less than 50 cents for every dollar the average man makes.
That's why efforts like Equal Pay Day are so important, to call attention to the massive inequities that still exist between men and women, and particularly between men and unmarried women of color. But nothing's going to change unless we join our voices together and demand that our leaders take action to end the wage gap -- and the most powerful way to make that demand a credible one is through your vote.
If you're eligible to vote but not registered, don't wait another minute: register to vote today, using our convenient online voter registration form.
And please share this post, and the posts from the Voter Participation Data Center, on social media to help spread the word about why Equal Pay Day is so important in 2016.