Governor Proclaims Equal Pay Day

Equal Pay Day

2025

By The Governor Of The State Of North Carolina

A Proclamation

Whereas, women in North Carolina and across the United States continue to experience a significant wage gap, earning less than men for performing the same work, with women of color facing even larger disparities; and

Whereas, Equal Pay Day symbolizes the point in the year when the average earnings of women finally equal the previous year’s earnings of men, marking the continuing inequality in our workplaces; and

Whereas, according to The State of Working Women: The 2023 State of Working North Carolina report, in 2022, full-time working women across all races earned $2.04 less than the median hourly wage for men; the wage disparity was even wider for women of color, with Latina women earning $7.23 less and Black women earning $3.45 less than the median hourly wage for men of all races; and

Whereas, according to the North Carolina Council for Women & Youth Involvement's 2018 Status of Women in North Carolina: Employment and Earnings report, if the median annual earnings of women and men in North Carolina continue to change at the present rate, the gender wage gap will not close until 2060; and

Whereas, eliminating pay inequity strengthens families and communities, contributing to the overall economic growth and prosperity of our state; and

Whereas, fair pay is not only a matter of justice but also a necessary factor in fostering gender equity in all spheres of society, including education, business, and public service; and

Whereas, North Carolina is committed to promoting policies and programs that support pay transparency, accountability, and wage equity across industries and professions; and

Whereas, National Equal Pay Day provides an opportunity to raise awareness about the impact of pay disparities and encourages government, business, and nonprofit sectors to work together to close the wage gap for all women;

Now, Therefore, I, Josh Stein, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim March 25, 2025, as “Equal Pay Day” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this twenty-sixth day of February in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-fifth and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.