In recognition of International Women’s Day, creative agency Rothco have launched a campaign to help highlight pay inequality and the silence which is fuelling it. ‘The Page Gap’ centres on a collection of bespoke Smythson diaries which are being sent to women of influence in Ireland, the UK and beyond on International Women’s Day (Thursday, March 8).
The diaries include a harsh reality. Seven weeks of the diaries are marked with a large red ‘unpaid’ stamp creating a page gap that mirrors the gender pay gap. Seven weeks is the average number of weeks that women effectively work unpaid relative to their male colleagues. The figure is based on the 14.1 per cent pay gap which prevails in OECD countries.
Rothco’s creative duo Elaine Joyce and Orla Byrne said the last year has been transformative for women, as evidenced by the #MeToo and ‘Time’s Up’ movements. All around the world, women have been emboldened to fight to have their voices heard louder than ever. Despite progress, one issue remains relatively unspoken about – the gender pay gap.
“There’s a certain silence surrounding it that makes it easier to pass over. So, we wanted to make sure it was somewhere difficult to pass over, like in the pages of your diary. We needed to make a statement that overtly showed the seven-week disparity,” Joyce and Byrne said. The diary includes a bookmark which is placed on March 8th with a message.
“The message is it is not too late to achieve what you want in 2018. On the reverse there is a clear prompt to break the silence on the gender pay gap. Like equal pay. Due to the gender pay gap, women work for seven weeks of the year unpaid relative to their male colleagues. On this International Women’s Day, we’re asking women to speak up about the pay gap.
“Talk to your boss, chat to your colleagues, ask the ‘awkward’ questions. Silence is fuelling the gender pay gap”. People can support closing the gender pay gap using #thepagegap. Rothco’s executive creative director Alan Kelly said they wanted to stress the magnitude of the problem. Women have an earning gap that needs to be shown, talked about and stopped.
