Annual Gender Pay Gap YBPW Event Takes Place in April

YOUNGSTOWN – The Youngstown Business and Professional Women organization invites residents to attend its annual Equal Pay Day Happy Hour & Networking Nite, “All Things Being Equal,” on April 7.

The event is scheduled to last from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Coaches Burger Bar at 3032 Center Road, Poland.

Equal Pay Day began in 1996 by the National Committee on Pay Equity, according to an organization press release. When COVID reached the U.S. in 2020, the effects on women and their economic security became more drastic, the organization states.

The “All Things Being Equal” event will be hosted in partnership with YWCA Mahoning Valley and the League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown. Leah Merritt, president and CEO of YWCA Mahoning Valley, said that based on recent surveys, she believes inequality in gender pay is an important topic to discuss.

“It’s important to keep mothers in mind when we talk about pay equity for women,” she said. “They make less than women with no children and single mothers make even less than that. Recent surveys have shown that women with a 50/50 parenting schedule are 54% more likely to earn at least $100,000 a year more than those whose kids are with them most of the time.”

The event will feature a brief presentation by the League of Women Voters Leah Sakacz and Deborah Cunningham. “Oh the Places You’ll Go – Until You Hit the Glass Ceiling or Are Stuck on the Concrete Floor: Two Tales of Gender (In)Equity from a Boomer and Millennial” will allow guests to accompany a baby boomer (Cunningham) and a millennial (Sakacs) as they share their life experiences with gender (in)equity in the workplace and the generational landscape that has shaped their journeys thus far.

Sponsors for the event include: the Western Reserve Chapter of SHRM, CWA Local 4300, Tenaris, Crowe’s Cabinets, Reliable Consulting Group, CooksonPierce and DSL Excavating.

Admission is $10 payable at the door and includes appetizers and door prizes. The cash bar will include a signature martini benefitting the YBPW Scholarship Fund. The event is open to the public.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.