Today is Latina Equal Pay Day, which marks how far into the year the average Latina needs to work in order to make what her white, male counterparts made in the previous year alone.

According to LeanIn.org , Latinas make just 55 cents on the dollar compared to white men, and that gap widens for Latinas with higher education levels.

It’s pervasive, harmful , and it’s time to recognize the huge impact Latina women have in our country—and pay them accordingly.

Check out the posts below to see how celebrities, activists, and politicians are addressing Latina Equal Pay Day this year.

American Ferrera: ‘Latinas are essential. Pay us.’

Actor and activist America Ferrera published a must-read essay entitled, “Latinas are essential. Pay us.” Ferrera argues that the pay gap directly says that Latina work and lives are valued less.

“So let’s be clear,” she writes, “Our value and our worth isn’t determined by our employers. Our value comes from the countless contributions we make in society, from our drive and our commitment, our passions and experiences, and the fact that we are human—no more and no less than anyone else. The failure to recognize and fairly compensate our contributions to society does not diminish our value, but it does diminish the resources and opportunities we have to provide for our families and to thrive.”

Eva Longoria: ‘The average Latina loses out on more than $1M over the course of her career’

Eva Longoria addressed the importance of this day of recognition in a caption on her Instagram, linking to a video from Lean In.

“This video lays out what women of color have been saying all along: the #PayGap is not about just one paycheck. The evidence shows that Latinas are paid just $0.55 for every $1 a white man makes for the same work – which means that the average Latina loses out on more than $1M over the course of her career. This makes a huge impact on our ability to invest in our savings, higher education, property and our family’s well-being. See the data and learn what you can do to address the #LatinaEqualPay gap at leanin.org/latinaequalpay.”

Cristela Alonzo: ‘I want us to get paid like a man but we need to get paid like a white women first’

Actress, comedian, writer and producer Cristela Alonzo has been vocal about this issue for years. Back in 2018 Alonzo acknowledged Latina Equal Pay Day with a story, posted to Facebook.

She wrote: “Years ago, I was offered $800 to do 7 shows at a comedy club I had never played. I found out a great friend of mine was getting $1500 for the same work. I needed the money for rent and did the week but told myself that I was going to prove to that club that I was worth more. I went and did the week. The club liked me and offered my agent another week about a year later. I said no. I didn’t want to go back until they paid me what I was worth. It took four years and finally went back. I had my TV show back then and sold out all the shows. The club had to pay me almost 15 times what they had originally paid me and I made sure to tell the owner that I hadn’t come back till then because I wanted him to PAY ME what I had been worth the FIRST TIME AND THEN SOME MORE. Let’s value our value! OH AND DON’T FORGET TO VOTE!”

This year, Alonzo tweeted some stark facts: “We get paid 54 cents to every dollar a white man gets paid. I say this every year. I want us to get paid like a man but we need to get paid like a white women first. Latinas are at the bottom of the pay scale for women.”

Billie Jean King: ‘The wage gap hurts women of all educational backgrounds & experiences’

Billie Jean King pointed out that a Latina would have to work all of 2019 and 2020 to date just to earn what a white man in the same job earned in 2019 alone.

This is unethical, unacceptable and inexcusable.

Alex Meneses: ‘Not cool’.

As Alex Menses points out in her Instagram post, this wage gap persists due to systemic racism and sexism in the United States and it is simply ‘not cool’.

NY Governor Andrew Cuomo: ‘We will keep fighting’

In his post, New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, points out that his state has made progress on equal pay but more work needs to be done.

He’s right. The fight is not over.


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