Equal Pay Day is marked this year on April 4 and is symbolic for how long into the year women have to work to match the salaries men in the same field of activity earned in the previous year.
In the United States, women's average salary is 20 percent lower than the paycheck of their male counterparts, the gender pay gap being even wider in the case of ethnic minorities — black women earn 37 percent less, while Hispanic female workers count on a 46 percent smaller income.
This means ethnic minorities have to hold off a while longer to celebrate Equal Pay Day, particularly until July 31 for black women and Nov. 2 for Hispanic women.
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and founder of LeanIn.Org, believes gender equality can't be achieved in the absence of equal pay.
"This issue speaks to how we value women's labor, knowledge, time, training, and so much more. In short, it's about women's worth," she said in a statement.
20 Percent Discount Campaign For Women
To promote a sense of appreciation for the female workforce, Sandberg partnered up with several companies to start a national retail campaign for women.
Eloquently called the #20PercentCounts campaign, the initiative aims to offer a 20 percent discount to female (and, in some cases, male) shoppers for many of their purchases.
The idea inspiring this campaign, which enlisted the participation of 300 local businesses in 25 cities, is that, since women earn 20 percent less, they should be charged as such when they go shopping.
Among the local shops that will be implementing the 20 percent discount, USA Today cites Panbury's Pie Café in Atlanta, Georgia; Found Coffee in Los Angeles; Builders' Hardware in East Lansing, Michigan; and Wiley's Comedy Joint, in Dayton, Ohio.
AAUW Work Smart Workshops
To organize the campaign, Lean In engaged the support of the following companies:
• LUNA, which is granting the 20 percent discount for all online nutrition bars purchases between April 3 and April 11.
• Lyft, which is donating 20 percent of ride revenues from April 4 to women's charities.
• Procter & Gamble, which is offering partial refunds for some of its products.
• Salesforce, which decided not to charge for graphic design and online advertising services and will also be participating in local public events.
According to Business Wire, LUNA also plans to make a considerable donation, in the sum of up to $100,000, to finance a series of workshops focused on salary negotiation.
Organized in collaboration with the American Association of University Women (AAUW), the activities bare the name AAUW Work Smart and aim to empower women when negotiating their wages and benefits packages.
In addition, the company released a gender equality video featuring actress Gina Rodriguez, as a testament to women's strength and determination.
"Together with LUNA, we're raising awareness for equal pay, and empowering women everywhere to never settle for the status quo," said Rodriguez, who is also LUNA's Equal Pay Day spokesperson.
What 20 Percent Less Looks Like: A Campaign Video
To spread awareness of the gender pay gap and provide more insight about the #20PercentCounts campaign, Lean In created a website dedicated to this event, where companies can find the proper tools to ensure employees are paid according to equal standards.
The website also posted a campaign video designed by Funny or Die and Hulu, describing how a woman's day would look like with 20 percent less of everything, from coffee to haircuts to phone battery life.
As Lean In explains, setting lower salaries for women reduces how much money they can spend for daily purchases as well as their long-term savings. The gender pay gap deprives women of up to $530,000 throughout their individual careers.
Sandberg stresses the gravity of salary inequity and how it impacts the lives of average women, who are otherwise similarly skilled and trained as the men that earn better wages. Bridging the gap would result half the number of women living in poverty, she adds.
Through this campaign, Sandberg — who mentions Facebook regularly conducts audits to verify the women it employs are paid the same as the men — hopes the notoriety of the #20PercentCounts slogan will lead to more action and possibly changes in legislation regarding the federal minimum wage.
"Two-thirds of minimum-wage workers are women. We need better public policy. We need businesses to do the audits they should be doing," says Sandberg.
