Governor Proclaims Equal Pay Day 2023

WHEREAS, the State of North Carolina recognizes that our workforce is made stronger by diversity, supporting equal pay for all; and

WHEREAS, Equal Pay Day emphasizes transparency in pay and brings awareness to the gender wage gap among women and men across our state and nation; and

WHEREAS, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, year-round, full-time working women in 2020 earned only earn 82 cents for every dollar earned by full-time working men, indicating little change or progress in pay equity; and

WHEREAS, the disparities in earnings are even greater for women of color with Latina women earning 58 cents and Black women earning 63 cents for every dollar. 

WHEREAS, in North Carolina women earned $837 of the $1,032 weekly median salary of their compared to men in 2020, falling below the national average; and

WHEREAS, according to the NC Council for Women & Youth Involvement’s 2018 Status of Women in North Carolina: Employment and Earnings report, if the gender wage gap is left unchanged, the present disparities will continue until 2060; closing the gender wage gap and reducing occupational segregation would increase earnings for women, reducing the poverty rate among working women by more than half; and

WHEREAS, in 2019, Governor Roy Cooper signed Executive Order No. 93, prohibiting the use of salary history in the state hiring process to help advance equality for women and families so that they are more economically secure; and

WHEREAS, the benefits of increasing the share of women in the labor force, closing the gender wage gap, and increasing women’s representation in high-growth occupations such as information technology would extend beyond individual women to their families, communities, and the entire state; and

WHEREAS, continuing to improve the status of women in the state would allow more women and families to achieve economic security, reduce the number of people in poverty, and grow the state economy;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROY COOPER, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim March 14, 2023, as “EQUAL PAY DAY” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.