As the nation prepares to honor Equal Pay Day on March 14, Summit Credit Union announced its financial wellness initiative Equity in Money, which focuses on solutions for pay inequities between men and women.
Summit said it wants to inspire progress for equal pay in Wisconsin, where women earn 80 cents for every $1 earned by men. At the current rate, women in Wisconsin will not reach equal pay status until 2067.
The credit union started the conversation with advertising and will continue it with an ongoing Pay Equity Dashboard on Summit’s website that will transparently track the cooperative’s record on pay equity. Later this year, the credit union will debut loan programs and scholarships for women.
Women aged 65 or older are about 43% more likely than men to live on an income below the poverty level. And about 65% of the elderly poor are women, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Pay inequity leads to more than $500 billion in lost earning power annually for women, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
