Equal Pay Day celebrated Tues. across U.S.

The topic of equal pay is a long-standing issue that continues to hold prevalence, with Tuesday marking Equal Pay Day in the U.S.

The day represents how far into the year women must work in order to earn what men earned the year before.

According the National Committee on Pay Equity, it usually falls on a Tuesday to show how far into the work week women must work to match the pay earned by men.

The Institute for Women’s Policy Research reports women make up roughly 50 percent of the workforce; however, data from 2015 finds full-time, year-round, female workers earned 80  cents per dollar less than men. It equates to a gender wage gap of about 20 percent.

Jean Dowding, Kent County Development Chair for the organization Fund For Women, tells 47ABC it’s imperative to never forget what Equal Pay Day commemorates.

“When we forget, we let girls know that they are not worthy,” says Dowding. “When we forget, we say that women in America…over half of the population, who make many decisions, who really to this day still raise and nurture most children…we’re saying, we’re not worth anything, really.”

Equal Pay Day was first recognized in 1996.