The global pandemic and economic crisis have brought into focus enormous long-standing inequities for women in the workplace. In response, LUNA® has partnered with the TIME’S UP™ Foundation on their Time’s Up Pay Up initiative to do something about it.
We stoked the fight for equality by donating to TIME’S UP to help launch a body of research to learn more about how women, men, and our communities are being affected by the COVID-19 crisis and recession. (Full results here.)
Now that the results are in, we’re shining a light on this information and sharing expert tips from frontline equality advocates to empower you to raise your voice for equal pay every day.
We tapped advice from three major players in the fight for equal pay.
- Angie Jean-Marie, Director of Public Engagement, TIME’S UP Now
- Megan Rapinoe, Defending FIFA World Cup Champion, US Women’s National Soccer Team
- Matthew Dillon, VP of Government Relations and Social Impact, Clif Bar & Company
Vote Equal Pay Every Day. Your Go-To Guide:
Voting in local, state, and federal elections is one of the most important things you can do in the fight for equal pay. But we can all do more in our daily lives. From supporting women running for office to speaking up for pay equity in our own places of work, we're sharing easy and effective ways you can make a difference by voting with your voice every day.
Engage with your elected officials.
We caught up with Angie Jean-Marie, Director of Public Engagement at TIME’S UP Now, to get her insight on political advocacy at this moment. Angie is a fierce advocate for equal pay for all women and she now leads strategic partnerships and advocacy campaigns to advance safety, fairness, and dignity for women at work.
Angie shared with us the importance of continued support for elected officials after the peak of activity around the election. She emphasized that voting is one way to be civically engaged, but that accountability and follow up are critical to our democracy.
Ways to support elected officials fighting for gender equity through their term.
- Sign up for their mailing list to stay up-to-date on what they’re doing.
- Participate in local events and town halls hosted by your elected leaders (virtually for now, of course).
- Share your pay equity story or related story about discrimination you’ve faced in the workplace with your elected leaders. Your story can enable them to create and advocate for gender equity policies.
- Call up your legislator and ask their position on issues such as equal pay and gender equity.
Angie reminded us that not only is it entirely ok to contact your elected offices but it’s actually the responsibility of your elected leaders to be in communication with their constituents.
“Take advantage of these open lines of communication,” she said. “What elected officials need when they’re forming their policy platform is to understand the stories of the people who live in their district.”
Angie recommends a practical approach to checking in with your elected officials after elections.
Simply set a timer for six months down the road. When your timer goes off in six months, ask yourself:
- What is this person doing in office?
- Are they pushing the policies that were in their election platform?
- What is their voting record?
- What does their community outreach look like?
- What have I done to empower them for success?
- What can I do next?
“We should all think of democracy as a team sport where we can where we can jump in to help the people we believe in to get elected and make change.”
- Angie Jean-Marie
Women, and especially Latinx women, are disproportionately impacted by the economic crisis.
The consequences are staggering.
Nearly half of women (48 percent) surveyed do not have a stable, good-paying job that pays the bills, 48% allows for savings, and allows them to be healthy.
The percentage is even higher, at 51%, for Latinx women.
National survey of 2,528 adults ages 18-64 conducted by PerryUndem for TIME’S UP Foundation.
Advocate for equal policies in the workplace.
We wanted to get the perspective of Clif Bar’s Matthew Dillon. He’s VP of Government Relations and Social Impact and he’s been with the company for nearly a decade. So, 1) we wanted to pick his brain about being a male advocate in a women’s rights movement, and 2) we needed insight on how both companies and consumers can raise their voices for equal pay, every day.
At Clif Bar, 52% of leadership positions (director and above levels) are held by women.
Matthew stressed this clarification. “When we talk about equal pay, it’s important to remember that pay is just one indicator of equality or equity of gender. Opportunity in growth and access to higher level positions within the company are equally important.”
Nearly six in 10 women say they’ve faced gender or racial discrimination or obstacles to higher paying jobs.
Fifty-eight percent of women have:
Stayed in a job or turned down a better job,
- due to: caregiving responsibilities
- to make it easier for their spouse
- because of sexual harassment or because the new environment could be too sexist or racist; and/or
Been told they didn’t work as hard because:
- of their gender, race or ethnicity; or because
- of children or caregiving responsibilities.
National survey of 2,528 adults ages 18-64 conducted by PerryUndem for TIME’S UP Foundation.
A company checklist:
Essential protocol to create a culture of equality.
- Do not ask for previous employment salary.
- Centralize salary negotiations through HR to ensure they’re fair and consistent.
- Conduct annual salary reviews to really identify disparity trends and how your company can solve for these disparities.
- Invite dialogue. There must be a comfortable environment for giving feedback.
- Create women’s leadership circles to provide guidance and advice.
“There are a couple of things in the hiring process that historically have really been a disadvantage to women. Those include both asking for the salary history of a candidate as well as how negotiations take place.”
- Matthew Dillon
Thirty-four percent of men who help make hiring decisions believe “men should have more of a right to a job than women” when jobs are scarce. That means 1 in 3 men who help make hiring decisions hold discriminatory views towards employment.
National survey of 2,528 adults ages 18-64 conducted by PerryUndem for TIME’S UP Foundation.
On the job, remember there’s strength in numbers.
We love insight from LUNA Athlete, Megan Rapinoe. She pretty much knows all there is to know about fighting for equal pay. As Co-Captain of the US Women’s National Soccer Team, Megan and her teammates led the charge in a lawsuit that demanded salaries equal to the men’s team for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup Team. They won the World Cup. They lost their lawsuit. (LUNA bridged the gap to pay equal bonuses for the world champs). But the famous Winger isn’t one to give up, and she continues to raise her voice to bridge the pay gap for all women in the workplace.
“We are often taught to not talk about money and this leaves many of us fighting in the dark, without the knowledge we need to ask for what we deserve.”
- Megan Rapinoe
Black and Latinx women are the least confident that they receive equal pay in their current job. Twenty-six percent of working Latinx women and 17% of working Black women are “very sure” their employer pays men and women equally.
National survey of 2,528 adults ages 18-64 conducted by PerryUndem for TIME’S UP Foundation.
An employee checklist:
Key tactics to ensure equal policies for yourself and your colleagues.
- Ask questions to HR departments about processes to audit and monitor equal pay.
- Find allies amongst both female and male peers and supervisors.
- Challenge yourself to become an ally.
- Be transparent with colleagues -- across genders -- about salaries.
A challenge for men seemed to rise to the top of our discussions with Megan and Matthew.
“We must start to be transparent, especially men, about how much money we are being paid so that everyone has an understanding of what equal pay would actually be.”
- Megan Rapinoe
“Finding allies is important. And men can be allies. If a female colleague reaches out to you to be her ally, go out on a limb for her.”
- Matthew Dillon
Vote for equality with your dollar.
An impactful way to help women make a living equal to that of their male counterparts is to pay them directly. As the pandemic has devastated our nation’s economy and our global social justice movement has shined a crucial light on racial inequality, now more than ever we understand the impact of supporting small businesses, Black-owned businesses, and businesses owned by women.
When you’re ready to make a purchase (big or small), here’s where to start:
- Get on the web - research a company’s leadership team on their website. Support companies and businesses with women in their C-Suite and top leadership roles.
- Look to your community - utilize your local chamber of commerce to find a list of minority owned businesses.
- Reference the National Women’s Business Council to learn about empowering female entrepreneurs.
Start conversations about equity and equality at home.
Only 16 percent of partnered women say their spouse or partner is doing “all or almost all” of household work. By comparison, more than 40 percent of women report doing “all or almost all” of household work.
National survey of 2,528 adults ages 18-64 conducted by PerryUndem for TIME’S UP Foundation.
“We have to start with ourselves and we have to start at home before we make change in our businesses or our society at large.”
- Matthew Dillon
Tips for constructive discussion about gender equality with family members:
- Be open to learning about our own biases (We’re counting on you, guys, but it’s important to acknowledge we all experience internal bias, regardless of gender).
- Have conversations with our spouses, partners, and children as to how we share workloads and what resources we bring to the household.
- Discuss how those resources are recognized, valued, and respected.
“This fight does not rest squarely on the shoulders of women. To disrupt the system that devalues the work that women do, we are all responsible for fighting to change that.”
- Megan Rapinoe
What to remember when the going gets tough.
“When I feel moments of despair, I remember what people have gone through in our past and in our present, far worse than any discouragement I am feeling in the moment, and I keep fighting.”
- Megan Rapinoe
“What I’ve learned -- and I think is important for us all to remember -- is that this progress takes time and we need to celebrate wins, no matter how big or small, to sustain us.”
- Angie Jean-Marie
Remember these essentials in your advocacy for equal pay everyday.
- Engage change-makers through their terms in office.
- Account for yourself and your community in the 2020 Census.
- Advocate for equal pay in your workplace.
- Vote equality by paying women through your purchases.
- Start conversations about equality at home.
- Keep your chin up.