A bake sale at West Virginia University will be turning salary inequality on its head this month when men will pay $1 for a sugar cookie, and women pay will pay just 70 cents for that same one.

The Council for Women’s Concerns, the American Association of University Women and the Center for Service and Learning will host gender equality bake sales from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on National Equal Pay Day Tuesday, April 12, on the WVU Downtown and Evansdale campuses to demonstrate the pay inequality that women continue to experience in the workplace. This will be the second year for the event.

Sugar cookies, brownies and other baked goods will be $1 for men and 70 cents for women at the bake sales – one of which will take place outside in front of the Mountainlair the other near the Evansdale Crossing building. According to the National Women’s Law Center, women in West Virginia earn about 70 cents to every dollar earned by men. A 2015 report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research discovered that West Virginia is not projected to close the gender wage gap until 2101.

“Even as awareness about the gender pay gap grows, women across the United States are still being paid less than men in the aggregate. This wage gap is especially large for the women of West Virginia as well as for women of color,” said Jessica Ice, chair of the WVU Council for Women’s Concerns. “The Council for Women’s Concerns wants to use Equal Pay Day to join a nationwide movement bringing awareness to the wage disparity. We advocate for women to gain access to education as well as the tools to negotiate their salaries and for the passage of legislation combating this crisis for women and their families.”

Information tables inside of the Mountainlair will also have materials about Equal Pay Day, WVU Council for Women’s Concerns, and the American Association of University Women. Council and association members will wear red on Equal Pay Day to symbolize how far women and minorities are “in the red” with their pay.

The WVU Council for Women’s Concerns, established in 1977, connects and empowers women in all areas of the University and local community by facilitating a dialogue on women’s issues and serving as a resource for women and girls. Visit http://cwc.wvu.edu to learn more about the WVU Council for Women’s Concerns.

-WVU-

cn/04/04/16

CONTACT: Rachel Niemen, WVU Council for Women’s Concerns
cwc@mail.wvu.edu

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