Press Release

Explainer: Everything you need to know about pushing for equal pay

To mark the first International Equal Pay Day, the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC) called all leaders to take necessary steps to ensure pay equity is at the heart of COVID-19 recovery efforts worldwide.  Led by the OECD, ILO and UN Women, EPIC brings together a diverse set of actors and expertise to support governments, employers, workers, and their organisations to make concrete and co-ordinated progress to achieve equal pay for women and men everywhere.

COVID-19 has made visible that our economies and societies are built upon the essential, and often undervalued or unpaid labour of women and girls. Women comprise 70 per cent of the global health workforce and have been on the front lines as essential workers, community leaders, carers and social workers. Prior to COVID-19, women did, on average, three times more unpaid care work than men, and this responsibility has heightened since the pandemic given school and childcare closures, and increased care needs for elderly relatives. 

Women in the workforce have been disproportionately impacted in the short-term economic fallout of COVID-19. Workforce sectors that rely on physical customer interaction, many of which are major employers of women, for example, accommodation, food and beverage and retail services, have been hit hard by the economic impact of the pandemic. Furthermore, women are much more likely than men to be in the most vulnerable segments of the informal economy as domestic workers, home-based workers in the lower tiers of global supply chains, or as contributing family workers, meaning they have little protections against dismissal, paid sick leave nor access to social protections.

To commemorate the first International Equal Pay Day, global leaders committed to take affirmative measures to narrow the pay gap. EPIC called governments, employers, workers and their organisations, the private sector, civil society and academia to ensure that integrated policy responses are aimed at mitigating the job and income losses, and to ensure that women do not end up disproportionately shouldering job losses and reductions in incomes resulting from the pandemic.

Reflecting on her own personal experience as an advocate for equal pay, Captain of US Women’s National Soccer team, Megan Rapinoe, said: "It's 'and...,  and..., and...', not one thing. We need women to fight hard. We need political will to enact and enforce legislation. We need social will. All the bills in the world are worth nothing if the world doesn't want it. We need to come at it from every angle”.

The event included a collective message delivered by all  representatives of the EPIC Steering Committee, including President of Iceland Guoni Johannessoe].  n; Secretary-General of International Employers Organization Roberto Suarez Santos;  And Secretary-General of International Trade Union Confederation Sharan Burrow, as well as heads of the EPIC Secretariat, Guy Ryder, Director General of ILO;  Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women; And Angel Gurria, Secretary-General of OECD. The message called for a COVID-19 economic response that prioritises the achievement of equal pay for work of equal value as a key driver of inclusive, resilient and sustainable recovery; recognises the value of unpaid care work; and provides access to affordable services, such as childcare and healthcare.

Sylvie Durrer, Director of Swiss Federal Office for Gender Equality and Chair of the EPIC Steering Committee, underlined the importance of partnerships in this effort, “It is only together we can ensure that the response and recovery efforts lead to building a more inclusive and fair world of work”. 

 Join the online conversation using the hashtag #EqualPayDay 

Follow on social media at: 

• @epic2030 


• @UN_Women (Twitter), @UNWomen (Instagram) 


• @ILO 


• @OECD 

View the EPIC International Equal Pay Day video here.

To learn more about EPIC and how to get involved go to the EPIC website.