Equal Pay Day was launched in 1996 by the National Committee for Pay Equity (NCPE) as a public awareness event to highlight the gap between men’s and women’s wages. Since 2008, the day of action has also been held in Germany and is annually initiated by Business and Professional Women Germany e.V.

The day symbolically marks the gender pay gap, which has been 16 per cent in Germany since 2024. 

The 2026 Equal Pay Day campaign’s motto “equal pay every day” focuses on how the gender pay gap develops and affects women throughout their lives. From learning gender roles in childhood and adolescence, to career choice and starting a family, all the way to retirement and old-age poverty among women: Tracing these different stages of life reveals how social, economic, and political structures repeatedly hinder equal pay – and what key leverage points can help change this and make equal pay a reality, not just on occasion, but every single day.