If the average woman makes 77% of what a man makes for equal work, maybe she should only pay 77% for the purchases she makes as well.
That’s the idea behind a six-week campaign pioneered by Lean In DC, the local chapter (分会) of Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In movement. The group convinced about a dozen local businesses to offer 23% discounts to customers on Tuesday, which is Equal Pay Day, as a way of raising awareness of the gender pay gap and highlighting the differences that can exist between men’s and women’s paychecks.
Equal Pay Day marks the symbolic point in the year when women’s earnings catch up with their male peers’—that is, a woman would have to work from January 1, 2013 until April 8, 2014 to make what a man made in 2013 alone.
"Hearing those same old numbers every year is bound to cause some fatigue," says Madeline Meth, 24, the Lean In group’s founder and president, whose day job is in media relations at the Center for American Progress. "That was the idea behind trying to do something different to raise awareness."
These local DC businesses—such as Boundary Road, Pizzeria Paradiso and Uber—agreed to offer the discount, though some are only doing so during certain hours, for certain items or via online-only deals. And in an interesting twist (花招), the discount will be offered to both women and men. "It helps to stress that 23 percent really makes a difference," Meth says. "In the end, equal pay is not just a women’s issue. It’s a family issue and an economic issue, too."
The idea originated from Meth and her seven-member board, who are mostly twenty-something young women trying to advance their careers by following Sandberg’s manifesto (宣言). Their group, an umbrella organization for D.C.-area Lean In "circles," hosts monthly discussions, trainings and networking opportunities. Six weeks ago, they shared their idea with the national organization, which put them in contact with a few other local groups around the country. As a result, a handful of businesses in San Francisco and New Haven, Connecticut will also be offering Equal Pay Day deals.
In addition to raising awareness about the gender pay gap, Meth said the campaign gave her and her young team the chance to practice their negotiating skills and get more comfortable with requests from businesses and political leaders. For instance, after seeing a segment on the Today Show about Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, they decided to ask the congresswoman if she’d be willing to stop by the happy hour they coordinated for Tuesday evening at the Capitol Hill location of Hank’s Oyster Bar. What have Meth and her team benefited from the campaign