Why Wage Equality Advocates ‘Clocked Out’ for Black Women
by superselected · #ClockOut4EqualPay, Atlanta Women for Equality, News, Wage Equality ·

Wage Equality Black Women


On Tuesday, the legal nonprofit Atlanta Women for Equality, launched a social media campaign, with the hashtag #ClockOut4EqualPay to bring awareness to how wage inequality affects black women in America. Advocates and supporters took selfies of themselves holding a time-card graphic with a clock-out time of 2:07 p.m. They posted the images to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with the accompanying hashtag.

The chosen date for the campaign and the “clock-out” time of 2:07pm were of particular importance to the campaign. Atlanta Women for Equality explains,

Did you know that Black women make only 64¢ to the white male dollar? On average, a Black woman would have to work an additional 208 days into 2015 to make what a white man earned in the 2014 calendar year. That is, a Black woman would need to work from January 1, 2014 until July 28, 2015 to make what a white man earned by December 31, 2014.

Over the course of a 40-year career, Black women would typically lose $775,000 to the wage gap – this means that a Black woman would have to work almost 63 years to earn what a white man would make in 40 years.


“The wage gap is far greater for black women than it is for white women,” Lisa Anderson, Executive Director of Atlanta Women for Equality told CNNMoney. “That of course has a very big impact on the lives of not only black women, but black families.”