[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 73 (Thursday, April 16, 2015)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 21149-21150]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-08956]
[[Page 21147]]
Vol. 80
Thursday,
No. 73
April 16, 2015
Part V
The President
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Proclamation 9255--National Equal Pay Day, 2015
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 80 , No. 73 / Thursday, April 16, 2015 /
Presidential Documents
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Title 3--
The President
[[Page 21149]]
Proclamation 9255 of April 13, 2015
National Equal Pay Day, 2015
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
In the United States, the promise of opportunity is
built on the idea that everyone who works hard should
have the chance to get ahead. This creed is at the core
of our democracy, and it is central to our belief that
America does best when all people are able to share in
our Nation's prosperity and contribute to our success.
Yet every day, countless women perform the same work as
their male colleagues only to earn less than their fair
share. On National Equal Pay Day, we mark how far into
the new year women would have to work just to earn the
same as men did in the previous year, and we renew our
efforts to end this injustice.
On average, full-time working women earn 78 cents for
every dollar earned by men, and women of color face an
even greater disparity. This wage gap puts women at a
career-long disadvantage, and it harms families,
communities, and our entire economy. Today, in more
than half of all households, women are breadwinners--49
million children depend on women's salaries. But our
economy and our policies have not caught up to this
reality. When women experience pay discrimination it
limits their future, and it also hurts the people they
provide for. It means less for their families' everyday
needs, for investments in their children's futures, and
for their own retirements. These effects reduce our
shared prosperity and restrict our Nation's economic
growth. Wage inequality affects us all, and we each
must do more to make certain that women are full and
equal participants in our economy.
When we take action to help women succeed, we help
America succeed, and my Administration is committed to
ensuring women have every opportunity to reach their
fullest potential. The first bill I signed as President
was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and the following
year--to crack down on violations of equal pay laws--I
created the National Equal Pay Task Force, which to
date has helped women recover millions of dollars in
lost wages. If workers do not know they are underpaid,
they cannot challenge the inequality; that is why we
are going to require Federal contractors to submit data
on employee compensation, including data by sex and
race, and why last year I signed an Executive Order
prohibiting Federal contractors from retaliating
against employees who choose to discuss their pay. And
I continue to call on the Congress to pass the Paycheck
Fairness Act to protect all people's fundamental right
to a fair wage.
In the last half-century, our economy has changed in
many ways for the better because of the increased
participation of women. But our values are not yet
fully reflected in how we pay women. We tell our
daughters that in America there are no limits to what
they can achieve--yet their mothers face persistent
barriers to equality and success. We have to do better
because our daughters deserve better. If we come
together, we can change the policies and attitudes that
hold women back, and we can fix this. On this day, we
recommit to making equal pay a reality, and we continue
our work to build a world where all our children are
limited only by the size of their dreams and the power
of their imaginations.
[[Page 21150]]
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim April 14, 2015, as
National Equal Pay Day. I call upon all Americans to
recognize the full value of women's skills and their
significant contributions to the labor force,
acknowledge the injustice of wage inequality, and join
efforts to achieve equal pay.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord two
thousand fifteen, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and thirty-ninth.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2015-08956
Filed 4-15-15; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F5