Women's Equality Day, August 26, is a day that celebrates the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave (some) women the right to vote. Black women and women of color wouldn't get that right until the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
And while women have gained important political power, there is still much work to be done to reach equality, especially when it comes to financial power.
One of the most glaring issues is the gender wage gap, the difference in earnings between men and women. The gap is especially prevalent during the economic struggles caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
According to the National Women's Law Center as reported by Fortune, working women are especially affected by the coronavirus as they make up a large percentage of the labor force in industries that are seeing large numbers of layoffs. "Women hold 70% of restaurant server positions, generally earning 79% of what men do," Fortune wrote.
Over half a century after the US passed the Equal Pay Act, American women still face a substantial gender wage gap across the spectrum.
In 2018, a woman working full time earned 81.6 cents for every dollar a man working full time earned on average. Additionally, women's median annual earnings were $9,766 less than men's, according to the most recent available data from the US Census Bureau.
The Fortune article also noted that many women on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak, such as nurses helping treat patients with the coronavirus or store workers keeping groceries and goods stocked, make less than men in the same occupation on average.
While progress has been made toward pay parity between the sexes, the Institute for Women's Policy Research estimates that it will not be reached until 2059.
The seven charts below illustrate the significant pay discrepancies between men and women based on race, age, geographical location, and more.