Monday is International Equal Pay Day!

Monday 18 September is International Equal Pay Day, which represents the longstanding efforts towards the achievement of equal pay for work of equal value.

It builds on the United Nations' commitment to human rights and against all forms of discrimination, including discrimination against women and girls.

Across all regions, women are paid less than men, with the gender pay gap estimated at around 20% globally. Other statistics on pay inequality include:

• women earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn for work of equal value, with an even wider wage gap for women with children;
• women are more likely to be unemployed than men worldwide, with wide disparities regionally;
• it is estimated that only 28% of women employees worldwide get to enjoy paid maternity leave;
• globally, nearly 65% of people above retirement age without any regular pension are women;
• women carry out at least two and a half times more unpaid household and care work than men.

Equal pay for work of equal value

Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls continue to be held back due to the persistence of historical and structural unequal power relations between women and men, poverty and inequalities, and disadvantages in access to resources and opportunities that limit women's and girls' capabilities.

Progress on narrowing that gap has been slow, while equal pay for men and women has been widely endorsed, applying it in practice has been difficult.

In order to ensure that no one is left behind, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) address the need to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. They also promote decent work and economic growth by seeking full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value.

Mainstreaming of a gender perspective is crucial in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The United Nations, including UN Women and the International Labour Organization (ILO) invites:

• Member States and civil society;
• women's and community-based organisations;
• feminist groups;
• businesses;
• workers' and employers' organisations,

to promote equal pay for work of equal value and the economic empowerment of women and girls.

Equal Pay International Coalition

The Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC) is led by the ILO, UN Women, and OECD. The Coalition's goal is to achieve equal pay for women and men everywhere.

By bringing together a diverse set of actors with different areas of focus and expertise, EPIC supports governments, employers, workers and their organisations, to make concrete and coordinated progress towards this goal.

EPIC is currently the only multi-stakeholder partnership working to reduce the gender pay gap at the global, regional and national levels.