EMILYs List Statement on Black Women’s Equal Pay Day

For Immediate Release
August 13, 2020

EMILYs List Statement on Black Women's Equal Pay Day

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today marks how far into the year Black women must work to earn what white, non-Hispanic men earned in the previous year for the same work. In 2019, Black women earned only $0.62 for every dollar a white, non-Hispanic man makes. On Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, Stephanie Schriock, President of EMILYs List, released the following statement:

“In this country, it takes eight months before Black women can earn as much as their white male counterparts. Also in this country, more than 70 percent of Black women are the primary breadwinners of their household. At this pace, Black women would have to wait until 2119 until they can achieve pay parity. This is an economic issue; it’s a family issue; it's an issue that creates ripple effects impacting communities across the country. It’s also why EMILYs List works so hard to elect Black women and women of color up and down the ballot who are leading the fight against this systemic inequity. 

There are many legislative initiatives we can enact to close the race and gender pay gap. We can start by electing more women up and down the ballot and in particular, flipping the U.S. Senate in November with pro-choice Democratic women so we can move on the legislation the House has already passed. However, that is just the beginning. We also need to continue to elect women to every level of government who will fight to raise the minimum wage, strengthen maternity leave policies, and provide affordable child care. With Black women in power, we will achieve pay equity in this country.”

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $600 million to elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 150 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and nearly 1,100 women to state and local office. Nearly 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. During the historic 2017-2018 cycle, EMILYs List raised a record-breaking $110 million and launched a record independent expenditure campaign. We helped elect 34 new women to the House, including 24 red-to-blue victories; enough seats to have delivered the U.S. House majority alone. Since the 2016 election, more than 55,000 women have reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state and national offices.