Emily Crockett is 29 years old. Over her working life, she can expect to lose $443,000 to unequal pay.

You’ve probably heard the statistics: Women get paid 77 cents for every $1 men get paid. The picture is even worse for women of color. And the numbers haven’t budged in more than a decade.

Women still make only 77 cents to the dollar men earn in America. Worldwide, "women are paid 18 percent on average less than their male counterparts at work." This pay gap has persisted without change for a decade. 

More and more families depend on a woman’s paycheck to put food on the table and a roof overhead. We need decent wages and flexible workplaces with paid sick days and family leave. While Equal Pay Day is still fresh in our minds, let’s commit to getting involved in raising the standard of living for working women everywhere. Let’s build the movement for workplaces that support caregivers. Let’s start with Wal-Mart.

In 2010, women who worked full-time, year round, still only earned 77 percent of what men earned. The median earnings for women were $36,931 compared with $47,715 for men, and neither real median earnings nor the female-to-male earnings ratio have increased since 2009. And even though women are outpacing men in getting college degrees, that’s not enough to close the gender pay gap.

Do you believe wealthy Americans and corporations should pay their fair share in taxes and women should receive equal pay?  Then April 17 is “Twofer Tuesday.” As part of the 99% Spring movement, some 100,000 activists will use Tax Day as a platform to demand that the 1% and corporations pay their fair share. April 17 is also Equal Pay Day, the date symbolizing how far into 2012 women must work to earn what men earned in 2011.

If you’re frustrated about the wage gap that persists between male and female workers, you can channel your energy into a new contest sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor and President Obama’s National Equal Pay Task Force.