How can you show your solidarity – wear red on equal pay day.

According to the AAUW, in the United States, the wage gap is smallest in Washington, D.C., where women make 90% of what men make. Despite Census statistics showing the latest wage figures only come out until August or September, the NCPE leadership decided years ago to select a Tuesday in April as Equal Pay Day.

Companies like Intel and Apple have also reached workplace pay parity, with Intel achieving 100% pay unity and Apple's women workforce earning 99.6 cents of every dollar earned by their male counterparts in the US. A recent study by Glassdoor, for instance, found women earned 95 cents for every dollar their male colleagues doing the same job were paid. African-American women in 2014 were paid 60 cents for every dollar white men earned, while Hispanic women made only 55 cents, according to NWLC. Even the White House website acknowledges, "Pay discrimination is a real and persistent problem that continues to shortchange American women and their families". When the USA women's soccer team wanted to be paid as much as the male team (whom they have consistently outperformed), asking was not enough to get the job done – they had to file a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission.

In conjunction with this year's "Equal Pay Day", or the day it has been determined that women's average earnings "catch up" to men's earnings from the previous year, the Independent Women's Forum (IWF) released a report of suggested policy reforms to address the unique set of challenges now facing women in the workplace.

Attacking the gender pay gap at the start changes this dynamic.

The non-holiday is commemorated annually with protests, Twitter storms and sassy 21% off discounts to compensate for the fact that, on average, women make $0.79 for every dollar men make. French says his company employs a lot of women, and they are paid the same as men. For instance, a woman with young children may have a job with a title that reflects her seniority but opts to work at a company that pays somewhat less in exchange for more flexibility. "There absolutely is a motherhood penalty when it comes to the pay gap". MTV is emailing women leaders a "79% Work Clock" that will ring at 3:20 p.m. Tuesday, 79 percent into the work day, to raise awareness. "Everybody cares about equal pay". And Maloney's point that the average woman who is 65 or over now lives on 56 percent of the income of a man the same age is misleading, unless Maloney is interested in pursuing reparations for a generation of women who were far less likely to work outside the home.

Pay equality would make a big difference to the 24 percent of the state's female headed households who now live below the poverty level, says the report.