The Breakdown - International Women's Day

Women are celebrating how far they’ve come and where they want to go next. Happy International Women’s Day to the ladies.

Every year on March 8, chants can be heard around the world. Different languages shouting the same message: “Let us be equal!”

You can thank New York City for the first International Women’s Day back in 1909 on February 28. Eventually, the United Nations joined in the effort and set March 8 as the global date of observance.

More than a century later, International Women’s Day is still important to anyone concerned about the gender pay gap and women’s rights. With campaigns like #MeToo and Time’s Up, a new energy has emerged among women. #PressForProgress is trending.

President John F. Kennedy passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963. As of 2016, men in the U.S. still made about 18 percent more than women. Worldwide, that gap is much larger at 32 percent.

Only around 5 percent of Fortune 500 chief executive officers are women, as of 2017. Many wonder, why? American women are celebrating a bit of a female Renaissance in politics. Fox News Research shows 494 women have launched campaigns for Congress in 2018. The 22 female U.S. Senators in 2018 is a record.. In Texas, we are likely sending the first Latinas ever to serve as representatives in Congress. Both are women! At the United Nations headquarters in New York City, hundreds of mothers brought their children along to celebrate the day.

As for the future, a Norwegian trade union conducted a little experiment and the reactions have a lot of people feeling good about what the future may hold.