In 1996, the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) launched the first “Equal Pay Day,” (originally recognized as “National Pay Inequity Awareness Day” and changed to Equal Pay Day in 1998) to symbolize how far into the new year women had to work to earn as much as men earned in the previous year. Typically held in April, Equal Pay Day continues to be a widely recognized public awareness day to illustrate the gap between men's and women's wages, with recent expansions to mark Equal Pay Days based on race and ethnicity.

*Equal Pay Days based on race and ethnicity:

February 22 - Asian American women’s Equal Pay Day

April 17 -White women’s Equal Pay Day

August 17 -Black women’s Equal Pay Day

September 27 -Native American women’s Equal Pay Day

November 1- Latinas’ Equal Pay Day