Posted by Natalie MacNeil, April 19, 2012

In case you haven’t heard, today, April 17, is Equal Pay Day. Why the 17th of April? It’s based on a calculation women would have to work until today to earn what their male counterparts did in 2011.

Depending on which media outlets you visit, you’ll hear several contrasting opinions on Equal Pay Day. Kristin Maschka explores how the United States income tax policy encourages women to drop out of the workforce, leading to a gap in lifetime earnings. David Futrelle asks “Should we be ‘celebrating’ Equal Pay Day in January instead?” Then there’s a Forbes op-ed by Carrie Lukas who’s calling an end to the “Equal Pay Day myth.”

No matter where you’re reading about Equal Pay Day you’ll hear one stat over and over again that we don’t just hear today but throughout the entire year: women earn 77 cents to a man’s dollar.

Note: Women entrepreneurs are earning less than their male counterparts as well and women only own 1 in 5 businesses with revenue over one million dollars.

I think it’s time we start reframing the Equal Pay Day issue.

We can take matters into our own hands in a big way, by doing one thing:

ASK.

Too many women don’t ask for what they are worth and sadly, so many more don’t know how valuable they really are. Women expect a salary between 3 and 32 percent less than men in the same job. For Equal Pay Day I want to encourage women professionals, students, and women entrepreneurs everywhere to ask. Ask for a higher starting salary out of school, ask for that raise you know you deserve, raise your rates if you’re self-employed.

I believe that to close the pay gap asking is what we have to do and that’s why I’ve teamed up with Levo League and an amazing group of organizations to encourage women to #ask4more today.

When you ask for more you are stepping into your power and saying “I am worthy.” It will be one of the most pivotal points in your career.

We hope that you will join us as we come together to support one another to #ask4more.

You can show your support for this movement by sharing www.ask4more2day.com with your twitter followers and Facebook friends using the hashtag #ask4more.

Originally Posted on She Takes on the World.