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23 facts to pull out the next time someone says, 'Actually, the wage gap is a myth.'

The wage gap is real, but we can put an end to it.

You've probably heard the stat about how for every dollar men make, women make just 80 cents — but there's a lot about the pay gap that might still surprise you.

April 4 marks Equal Pay Day, which represents the number of days this year women have essentially worked "for free" as the result of the wage gap. While the day is an excellent moment to raise awareness about society's inequalities, fighting for fair pay and equal rights is something you can do 365 days a year.

Students at Barnard College attend the school's 2016 commencement ceremony. Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images.


If you're in the mood to be surprised, angered, encouraged, or just plain informed, check out these 23 interesting facts about equal pay.

1. Even Batgirl had to fight for equal pay.

2. On average, it takes women 459 days to make as much as men do in a single year. (This is kind of the whole point of Equal Pay Day.)

The British-based National Women's Liberation Movement protests in London in 1971. Photo by Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

3. Even when women "lean in" and negotiate harder, they're less likely to get raises than men.

4. Women lose out on an estimated $419,000 over the course of a lifetime as the result of the pay gap. What?!

A Miami woman protests on International Women's Day. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

5. What does a year’s worth of lost wages (an average of $10,470) add up to? For starters: 15 months of child care, 78 weeks of food for a family, 11 months of rent, nearly nine years of birth control, or 1.2 years’ tuition at a four-year public university.

6. Millennial women across the political spectrum say they’re more likely to support politicians who fight for equal pay, including 70% of Republicans, 83% of Independents, and 88% of Democrats.

7. There's some good news: The pay gap is closing. There’s also a bit of bad news: None of us will be alive to see it. One estimate suggests that we’ll be waiting until 2152 for paycheck equality. Ooof!

A cheeky lemonade stand highlights the pay gap. Photo by Molly Riley/AFP/Getty Images.

8. Yes, it’s illegal to pay women less than men for the same work (thanks, Equal Pay Act of 1963!) Unfortunately, it still happens. There's not exactly a whole lot of transparency when it comes to wages, and enforcing the law means an employee has to learn they're being discriminated against and then take their employer to court. Without additional steps to encourage transparency and reduce the possibility of retribution, the law doesn't quite cut it.

9. The first bill President Obama signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which got rid of the 180-day statute of limitations on wage discrimination claims. In other words, it made it so that if you found out your employer had been discriminating against you for years, you’d be due damages on the whole time, not just the last six months.

Lilly Ledbetter watches as President Obama signs the law bearing her name. Photo by AP Photo/Susan Walsh.

10. Fun fact: If we eliminated the pay gap, poverty among working women would decline by more than half in 28 states!

11. From a “What can I get on my member of Congress’ case about?” point of view, the Paycheck Fairness Act is a good place to start. The bill would help make wages more transparent, would require your bosses to prove that any differences in pay are actually related to qualifications, and would block companies from retaliating against employees who raise concerns about discrimination. There's a whole list of things you can chat with your Congressperson about when it comes to pay equality.

President Obama signs an executive order banning federal contractors from retaliating against employees who raise concerns about pay discrimination in 2014. In March 2017, President Trump rescinded the order. Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

12. The pay gap isn’t a myth. It’s math. Even when you control for things like age, experience, race, location, and education, it’s still just as real as ever.

13. Not all states are equally unequal! For example, the pay gap in North Carolina (where women make 86% of what men do) is much smaller than in Wyoming (where women make just 64% of what men do).

Jensen Walcott (right) speaks at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Walcott was fired from her job for asking for equal pay. Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images.

14. The most surefire way to score a box office hit in 2016 was to cast Scarlett Johansson, that year’s top-grossing actor (that is, her movies made more money than any other actor's). Even so, a quick look at the five highest-paid actors of the year is just a bunch of dudes. Really?

Scarlett Johansson. Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images.

15. In 2016, the women of Iceland protested the wage gap by going on strike. In response, lawmakers recently unveiled a five-year plan to get the country to paycheck equality.

16. Women in Australia are trying a similar tactic: walking off the job at 3:20 p.m., the time that women in the country basically start working for free because of the wage gap.

Child care workers march for higher wages on March 8, 2017, in Melbourne, Australia. Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images.

17. Despite now being America’s most educated group, black women are hit especially hard by the wage gap, making on average nearly $20,000 a year less than white men. What even?

18. Actress Emmy Rossum took a bold stand for pay equality, pushing to get paid the same as William H. Macy, her male counterpart on the set of Showtime’s “Shameless.” And guess what? It worked. She even got paid back wages for earlier seasons.

Emmy Rossum. Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images for Variety.

19. So did “Star Wars” actress Felicity Jones.

20. As did “X-Files” actress Gillian Anderson.

"X-Files" stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images.

21. One way companies can show they're taking the fight for wage equality seriously is by getting EDGE (Economic Dividends for Gender Equality) certified. If you're in a position to push the company you work for to get involved, give it a shot!

Image via iStock.

22. Another thing you can do is support companies that met President Obama's 2016 Equal Pay Pledge and encourage other companies to make similar public statements.

23. And if you're looking to hone your own negotiating skills, there's even a Facebook chat bot that'll help you navigate your way to a fair wage.

No matter your gender, equal pay is something worth fighting for — and yes, there are things you can do to help out.

The above list has a few suggestions, but you can learn about other ways to help out over at the American Association of University Women's website. Every week, they post a new action you can take to help build a better, more fair world for us, our children, grandchildren, and beyond.

A Fort Lauderdale, Florida, woman joins a March 14, 2017, protest calling for equal pay. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

We all have an important role to play in fighting discrimination. Whether you're a man, a woman, a business owner, a legislator, or just someone who believes in equality, there are concrete steps people can take.

@thedailytay/TikTok

"My anxiety could not have handled the 80s."

Raising kids is tough no matter what generation you fall into, but it’s hard to deny that there was something much simpler about the childrearing days of yesteryear, before the internet offered a million and one ways that parents could be—and probably are—doing it all very, very wrong.

Taylor Wolfe, a millennial mom, exemplifies this as she asks her own mother a series of rapid-fire questions about raising her during the 80s and the stark contrast in attitudes becomes blatantly apparent.

First off, Wolfe can’t comprehend how her mom survived without being able to Google everything. (Not even a parent, but I feel this.)


“What did we have to Google?” her mom asks while shaking her head incredulously.

“Everything! For starters, poop!” Wolfe says. “Cause you have to know if the color is an okay color, if it's healthy!”

“I was a nursing mom, so if the poop came out green, it was because I ate broccoli,” her mom responds.

…Okay, fair point. But what about handy gadgets like baby monitors? How did Wolfe’s mom keep her kid alive without one?

“I was the monitor, going in and feeling you,” she says.

@thedailytay My anxiety would have hated the 80s. Or maybe loved it? IDK! #fyp #millennialsontiktok #parenttok #momsoftiktok #comedyvid ♬ original sound - TaylorWolfe

Could it really be that easy? It was for Wolfe’s mom, apparently. Rather than relying on technology, she simply felt her child and adjusted accordingly.

“If you were hot, you slept in a diaper. If you were cold, you had a blanket around you.” Done and done.

Wolfe then got into more existential questions, asking her mom if she ever felt the stress of “only having 18 summers” with her child, and how to make the most of it.

Without missing a beat, Wolfe's mother says, “It's summer, I still have you.”

Going by Wolfe’s mom, the 80s seems like a time with much less pressure.

From feeding her kids McDonald’s fries guilt-free to being spared the judgment of internet trolls, she just sort of did the thing without worrying so much if she was doing it correctly.

That’s nearly impossible in today’s world, as many viewers commented.

“Google just gives us too much information and it scares us,” one person quipped.

Another seconded, “I swear social media has made me wayyyy more of an anxious mom."

Even a professional noted: “As someone who has worked in pediatrics since the 80s, the parents are way more anxious now.”

I don’t think anyone truly wants to go back in time, per se. But many of us are yearning to bring more of this bygone mindset into the modern day. And the big takeaway here: No matter how many improvements we make to life, if the cost is our mental state, then perhaps it’s time to swing the pendulum back a bit.


This article originally appeared on 8.24.23

Joy

Springfield residents flood Haitian restaurant with support to 'conquer with love'

“We know Springfield is full of love. "[It] does not have the hate that is being told to the rest of the country…"

Photo credit: David Wilson (left) Lëa-Kim Châteauneuf (right)

Residents of Springfield, Ohio, can enjoy Haitian dishes like the traditional Haitian griot at Rose Goute Creole.

Whenever prejudice and hate rear their ugly heads, support and love find a way to snuff them out.

A rumor started by a Facebook post from a Springfield, Ohio, resident alleging that Haitian immigrants were killing and eating neighborhood pets quickly rose up through the misinformation chain, all the way to the U.S. presidential debates, causing a firestorm of ugly accusations and heinous hatred toward the Haitian population in the town. Despite assurances by the Springfield police department, city officials and mayor, as well as Ohio's governor, that the allegations are unfounded and false, the town has become a focal point for anti-immigrant bigotry.

False allegations about Haitians in Springfield eating pets created tension and threats

Those false allegations and bigotry have led to real-world consequences. Hate groups that were already targeting Haitians in Springfield were empowered by former president Donald Trump parroting their rhetoric. Public schools and municipal buildings in the city were closed for multiple days due to bomb threats. Two colleges in Springfield moved to virtual classes after bomb threats linked to the false claims. Haitian residents fear for their safety in the town they call home, with some even afraid to leave their houses.

However, amidst all of this chaos, some in Springfield are doing what they can to show their support for their Haitian neighbors.


People are showing up to show support for Haitians in Springfield in the wake of hateful bigotry

Hundreds of Springfield residents have flooded Rose Goute Creole Restaurant, a Haitian-owned eatery, in an effort to show the Haitian population there that hate has no place in their town.

“Springfield is diverse," city resident Steve McQueen, who helped arrange the act of "organized love," shared with Dayton 24/7 Now. “We know Springfield is full of love. [It] does not have the hate that is being told to the rest of the country and world as they’re even talking about.”

“We’re actually a beautiful city," added Springfield native Terrance Crowe. “I immediately shook my head and put my head down. You can’t conquer with hate, conquer with love.”

Rose Goute Creole opened in 2023, and manager Romane Pierre told the Springfield News-Sun what he's experienced in the wake of the falsehoods being spread about the Haitian community, which he said have come "as a shock."

“Yesterday some people call, I think they make some joke, ask if we have cat, dog," he said. "I say, ‘We don’t sell that. We sell chicken, fish, goat, pork, rice, beans.' I know my people — dogs, cats — we don’t do that in Haiti."

But Pierre has also been on the receiving end of support from other Springfield residents. "A lot of American people come here to try the food. They say ‘Don’t worry, we are with you,'" he told the News-Sun. "Everybody is welcome."

Why are there so many Haitians in Springfield, Ohio?

Thousands of Haitian migrants have moved to Springfield over the past several years after the city made a push in 2014 to welcome immigrants to fill a need for workers in the wake of population loss. The city had been labeled "the unhappiest city" in the U.S. by Gallup in 2011, with industries closing down, unemployment and crime rising, and people ultimately leaving. Since then, however, companies have been building plants, factories and warehouses, creating more jobs. The influx of immigrants filling those jobs has not been issue-free—adding that many people to a struggling town will naturally come with some challenges—but Pierre wants people to understand that Haitians came to Springfield to build a better life.

"I don’t want people to think that Haitians are bad people, because we came here to work," he said. "We work very hard."

Others have borne witness to the Haitian migrants' dedication to work. The United Farm Workers labor union has come to Haitians' defense on social media. And Springfield metal factory owner Jamie McGregor told PBS NewsHour that he has hired 30 Haitians and would love to hire 30 more.

"Our Haitian associates come to work every day," McGregor said. "They don't have a drug problem. They'll stay at their machine, they'll achieve their numbers. They are here to work."

Politicians keep pouring on the false claims about Haitians, with pushback from local and state officials

In addition to the false rumors of eating pets, other falsehoods being spread by politicians about Haitians in Springfield include that they are illegal immigrants (they have legal status), they have been spreading tuberculosis and HIV (the Ohio Department of Health reports that they haven't seen a discernible increase in communicable disease) and that they were "dropped" in Springfield with no warning (they've arrived over a period of years after the city joined a network of immigrant-friendly cities).

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has called the rumors about the Haitians in Springfield "unfortunate."

"What we know is that the Haitians who are in Springfield are legal," he said an interview with ABC News' "This Week." "They came to Springfield to work. Ohio is on the move and Springfield has really made a great resurgence with a lot of companies coming in. These Haitians came in to work for these companies. What the companies tell us is that they are very good workers. They're very happy to have them there. And frankly, that's helped the economy now."

When hate comes to town, it's up to people of goodwill to make sure it doesn't find welcome. Even though there may be legitimate challenges that come with an influx of population, those are not insurmountable when a community comes together to solve them.

"“Why don’t we help them be better drivers or help them [learn to] speak English?” Springfield native Mark Houseman asked Dayton 24/7 Now. “We’re fighting a fight nobody will win. There’s no win at the end of this with that hate.”

“You’ve got to bridge the gaps, tear down those mental fences," added Crowe. "We’re all human; we’re all in one race, the human race.”

Culture

Guy starts singing a Sam Cooke song at the barbershop and blows everyone away

With 7 million views on TikTok alone, Shawn Louisiana's incredible viral video is a must-see.

Sometimes a person opens their mouth to sing, and magic happens. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what qualities make a voice transcend the average and transfix an audience, but we know it when we hear it.

Enter Shawn Louisiana.

A video of him singing in a barbershop has gone viral and it's definitely worth a watch. He wrote on YouTube, "The older guy didn't think I could pull off a Sam Cooke song," but when he started singing "A Change is Gonna Come," he definitely proved that he could. Really well. Like, whoa.

Watch:


The older guy didn't think I could pull off a Sam Cooke song #achangegonnacomewww.youtube.com

There's a reason that video has gotten nearly 7 million views on TikTok alone.

Louisiana frequently shares videos of himself just singing casually for the camera, and I don't understand why this man's talent is not more well known yet.

I mean, just listen to this "Stand By Me" cover. Like butter. Sing me to sleep, sir.

Stand By Me - Ben E. King cover #tiktokwww.youtube.com

His Instagram account says he's available to book for weddings. That's nice, but someone please get this man a record deal so we can listen to him croon all day.

For more from Shawn Louisiana, follow him on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.


This article originally appeared on 9.1.21

Innovation

12 real scientific facts that sound completely made up, but aren't

Did you know that placebos work even when people know it's a placebo?

Real life is far stranger than fiction.

And now we have the proof.

A recent thread on r/AskReddit posed the question: "What sounds like pseudoscience, but actually isn't?"

The answers were far more interesting than all the science classes I ever took. Combined.

Let's take a look at some of the strangest scientific facts the good people of the Internet could come up with.

1. Phantom limbs & mirror therapy

Most people have heard of phantom limbs and phantom limb pain, the phenomenon where someone who's lost a limb can still feel pain or other sensations where the missing appendage should be.

But the connection between the brain and the missing limb gets even wilder the more you dig into it.

Did you know that a common treatment for phantom limb pain is something called "mirror" therapy, where a therapist will use a series of mirrors to make it look like the missing limb is still there? This tricks the brain and eases discomfort over time.

Sounds like psuedoscience, but can be extraordinarily effective!

Tip of the cap to u/MonSoleil937 for this one.

2. Ear crystals going haywire

Close-up of an ear with skull earring Photo by Christof Görs on Unsplash

User u/shinjithegale nominates "Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo", or BPPV, a common type of vertigo and dizziness that usually occurs in people over the age of 60.

The weird part? The vertigo is caused by small calcium crystals inside the ear coming loose and flowing into the inner ear.

"Your magical ear crystals are out of sync" definitely sounds fake but is 100% a real, treatable condition.

3. Redheads need more anesthesia than everyone else

This one comes from u/explorerdoraaaaaa — and it can't possibly be true, right?

Wrong.

Red-haired people, who make up only about 2% of the population, may process pain differently from the rest of us and have been shown to often be more tolerant to local anesthetics — they may need up to a 20% stronger dose!

They might also be more sensitive to opioids and less sensitive to shots, needles, and electric shocks.

4. Speaking in a different language can unlock an alternate personality

Where are our personalities stored? In our brains? Our souls?

Despite sounding completely implausible, maybe neither!

If you learn a new language or grow up speaking multiple languages, your personality make be markedly different depending on which language you're speaking.

One study gave people who grew up in Spanish/English bilingual households a personality test in each language and found that their values and personality traits were dramatically different in the respective results.

5. Platypuses exist

a platypus swimming in a body of water Photo by Aaron De Wit on Unsplash

That's it. That's the fact, courtesy of u/Steeze-Schralper6968.

The list of true but baffling facts about platypuses goes on and on.

For starters, they're a mammal with a beak that lays eggs, sweats milk, and shoots poison.

If you read about it in a SciFi novel you'd struggle to suspend your disbelief.

6. Duct tape can cure warts for some reason

Most common warts are harmless, but we still don't like having them. That said, because they're not hurting anyone people are hesitant to try invasive or expensive procedures to remove them.

Enter Duct Tape Occlusion Therapy, which is a real thing. Simply apply duct tape to the wart, remove, clean the area, and repeat every couple of days.

Weirdly duct tape therapy isn't just ripping the warts off. There's some evidence that the adhesive used on the tape may cause an immune response in the skin that causes the warts to clear up.

7. The world is brighter for blue-eyed people — and they see better at night


macro shot photography of person's right eye Photo by Jordan Whitfield on Unsplash

It sounds like psuedoscience, for sure, but eye color isn't purely aesthetic.
People with lighter colored eyes — with less melanin in them — are more sensitive to light.
For blue-eyed people, that may mean they're more sensitive to bright daylight and have better vision at night.

I've always wondered why I can barely walk outside on a cloudy day without sunglasses, and now I know!

8. Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

EMDR therapy, nominated in the thread by u/taurussy, sounds like something you'd see a stage hypnotist perform on tipsy audience members.

In reality, it's a powerful therapy for processing trauma.

EMDR involves a patient processing traumatic memories while performing therapist-directed eye movements or otherwise tracking an external stimulus, like a light or an audio track.

The theory is that the process can form new connections between blocked-off and painful memories and more adaptive memories or information, which allows for healing.

9. The placebo effect & open-label placebos

Most of us know about the placebo effect, but it's still almost too unbelievable to be real.

(As a refresher, an example of the placebo effect might be someone with a cold feeling better after taking a "sugar pill" with no medicine in it that they were told would cure them.)

But here's something wild you probably didn't know about placebos:

They can work just as well even when people know they're taking a placebo!

The things our brains can "trick" us into doing are truly incomprehensible.

10. Teratomas

Teratomas sound more like nightmare-fuel than psuedoscience, but they're still worth a mention from u/flugualbinder.

Teratomas are rare kinds of tumors that can grow and contain hair, bones, muscle, and even teeth.

They are real, and you will look up photos of them at your own peril.

11. Pain is all in your head — kind of

Pain is real, and it's valuable information for your body that something is wrong.

But scientists have learned a lot about it, specifically when studying chronic pain. And we know now that our emotions, our beliefs, and other aspects of what happens in our brains plays a big role in how we experience pain.

One study found that Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), basically training the brain to "unlearn" pain, was more effective than a placebo and normal pain management care.

It gives credence to something that sounds completely unbelievable: In some cases, you can "mind over matter" your way to hurting less.

12. Grass screams when you cut it

Thank you to u/arealcabbage for this horrifying image:

"The grass screams distress signals to the next lawn over when you're mowing."

Believe it or not, that's true — in a sense. That freshly-cut grass smell we all like? It's actually a distress signal designed to warn other plant-life in the area of danger.

It's a stretch to say that your lawn feels pain, but it does have some survival instincts. Now if we could only say for sure why humans love the smell so much!

Woman on flight confronts parent over 3-year-old using iPad

It's no secret that everyone parents their children differently. Heck, even within the same house children are parented differently based on their individual personalities and social–emotional needs. So most parents understand that every family operates differently than their own but that doesn't stop some people from expecting their rules to be followed by other people outside of their family.

One mom found herself feeling a bit confused and likely frustrated after a recent flight with her preschooler. She and her 3-year-old were on a two hour flight enjoying some in flight entertainment in the form of an iPad. This seemed to be a problem for another family on board the same flight who also happened to have a preschool aged little boy with them.

The other family's child noticed the little girl's iPad and decided that he too needed to have his iPad. The only problem was, the boy's family decided he could not use his device while traveling which left him crying for the girl's tablet.

Instead of the parents of the little boy giving him his tablet, they requested that the other mom take the tablet away from her child and put it away.


The mom of the little girl refused to take the tablet from her child to accommodate the other family causing the little boy to cry most of the flight according to the frazzled mom on Reddit. Of course screen time is a hot button for parents with some parents demanding to be screen free until a certain age and others appreciating the time screens provide parents to get things done around the house.

woman carrying baby while sitting on gray seat Photo by Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash

Experts weigh in on screen time

According to the Mayo Clinic, screen time for children younger than 18 months old should be avoided unless video chatting with relatives or friends. Otherwise, there should be no screens until after that age when high quality shows and such can be introduced with supervision up to 24 months. But for preschool aged children the recommendation is to leave screen time to one hour or less of high quality programs with parental supervision.

Two psychologists who are also moms discussed screen time when traveling on the podcast "Securely Attached." They both agreed that each kid is different but one mom, Dr. Emily says, "I think you really have to adapt to what the needs are. If you have a really long flight, your kids are zoning out." Before adding, "I’m okay with them watching movies. I’m less with them doing a video game for hours and hours and hours that again, I might just be old and I think that’s more analog."

girl sitting on chair Photo by Patricia Prudente on Unsplash

While the two children whose parents were in this mile high standoff over screen time both fall into the one hour or less category, these children are not from the same family. Every parent has different rules around screen time for their children and some see traveling as a place to bend their own household rules a little to make sure their children are as occupied as possible in an effort to not inconvenience other passengers.

People chime in to support mom's choice

Since the mom who originally asked if she was wrong for refusing to take away her child's iPad was starting to second guess her choice after noting the other family giving her dirty looks, Reddit users emphatically supported her decision.

High Five Sesame Street GIF by MoonbugGiphy

"If they don't want their kid to use a tablet on their vacation, they need to be prepared for meltdowns like this while he develops the ability to understand that other people will have different rules and experiences than he will. I feel for them, I know how hard it is to travel with a cranky toddler, but that's simply not a reasonable request to make of a stranger," someone shares with the mom.

"I think the big benefit to iPads on flights is that you can download near unlimited activities and don’t have to bring anything else that takes up space! I own a Kindle and while I do prefer reading physical books, when I travel I don’t have to worry about reading my books too quickly because I can just download another! Like bringing a puzzle and a book and a game and markers and paper vs bringing one device that has all of those things can absolutely be beneficial for a flight/trip especially if you have young children and also need to pack snacks and diapers and sippy cups and all the extra stuff adults don’t need," another adds.

Happy Dance GIF by XboxGiphy

"It's different before kids can read, I think. At 3 they can't just sit and read or do a puzzle, you have to actively do it with them and their attention span is short. Which might be fine for a 2 hour flight but isn't going to work for 5 or 7 or 12. Breaking it up with a few episodes of Bluey on your phone isn't going to hurt anyone and is considerate to your fellow passengers who don't want to deal with a toddler bouncing off the walls with boredom," one person writes.

boy sitting on chair beside table using tablet computer Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Overwhelmingly parents and non-parents alike agree that this mom did nothing wrong by refusing to take away her daughter's iPad. Others suggesting that the parents who chose not to use screens should have been more prepared with activities, "Exactly. It's fine to not want your toddler to use a tablet but you have to give them other activities. When we traveled as small children, we had lots of books, coloring books, little games, snacks, etc. planes are boring for all of us, especially children."

There you have it, planes are boring for everyone, so being prepared with boredom busters if you're avoiding screens can be beneficial for all involved.