Renton City Council will mark April 18 as Equal Pay Day in Renton. The proclamation is being made at the request of Renton Business and Professional Women (BPW).

The proclamation will be issued at the same time as proclamations are issued by hundreds of BPW organizations across the nation.

The proclamation is intended to call attention to the continuing wage disparity between women and men and to educate women and men about solutions to wage discrimination.

Currently, women, on average, are paid 77 cents for every dollar paid to men.

April marks the point into the next year that a woman must work in order to earn the wages paid to a man in the previous year.

Because women typically earn less, they must work longer for the same pay. Over a working lifetime, this wage disparity costs the average American woman and her family an estimated $523,000 in lost wages.

BPW/USA encourages employers to take advantage of the Equal Pay Self-Audit that is available at www.bpwusa.org.

Renton City Council’s proclamation will encourage the business community to review pay practices and perform an Equal Pay Self-Audit.

Founded in 1919, Business and Professional Women/USA is a multi-generational, nonpartisan membership organization which promotes equity for all women in the workplace through advocacy, education and information. BPW/USA was the first organization established to focus on working women .