It's a topic some might call taboo. But that's not stopping women in Grand Island from speaking out about the inequality in pay between men and women.
Dee Price says it's certainly not a new issue.
"I graduated from high school in '65 and I'm retired today, and it's still here," Price says. "The issue is still here."
She says the issue is pay inequality between men and women.
The Grand Island YWCA hosted a luncheon Tuesday, inviting women to discuss the inequality and ways to overcome it. Event Coordinator Mandy Wehner says though not found in all occupations, it's still a big problem.
US Census statistics from 2011 show on average, women are paid 77 cents to every dollar their male counterparts are paid.
Wehner says that doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon.
"The wage gap, they say, will not be eliminated until 2039," Wehner says.
But groups like those who met at the YWCA are working to change that, by bringing the wage discussion into the open.
"Now it's a secret, you don't talk about your wages," Price says.
"I don't think it has to be something that you're afraid of, or that you should be scared of," Julia Gruber says. "Awareness is the only way that anything is going to change."
Price says current legislation in Congress could soon bring some change to the workplace.
"There's an act before Congress right now that really could help," Price says. "It would recognize employers that do do good in their pay practices already, and it would ban retaliation for workers that talk about their wages."
These women are encouraging others to support that legislation and ask their congressional representatives to do the same. But for now, they say the best way to make a difference is by spreading awareness.
"I just want women to be aware of it," Wehner says. "I was aware of it too, but it's just kind of taking it in and really sinking it in by looking at the numbers."
Wehner says the national observance of Equal Pay Day takes place every April to symbolize the fact that women have to work until April to make what a man in a similar position has made the previous year.
