National Equal Pay Day, 2016

Proclamation 9422 of April 11, 2016

National Equal Pay Day, 2016

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Our Nation is built on the basic promise of a fair shot
for all our people. Women in the United States still do
not always receive equal pay for equal work. When women
are paid less for doing the same jobs as men, it
undermines our most fundamental beliefs as Americans.
Every year, we mark how far into the new year women
would have to work in order to earn the same as men did
in the previous year, and on this day, we reaffirm our
commitment to ensuring equal pay for all.

Although small gains have been made in recent years,
the typical woman working full-time, year-round earns
only 79 cents for every dollar earned by the typical
man, and women of color earn even less relative to the
typical white, non-Hispanic man--60 cents on the dollar
for the typical black woman and 55 cents on the dollar
for the typical Hispanic woman. Women are increasingly
the breadwinners of American households, and when they
are not paid equally, or are underrepresented in
certain higher-paying occupations, their ability to
save for retirement is hindered and hardworking
families face greater difficulty meeting their basic
financial needs. Pay discrimination puts greater strain
on families to cover costs like child care or health
care, and it holds our economy back from achieving its
full potential. We must continue taking action to
address issues of equal pay, pay secrecy, pregnancy
discrimination, and unconscious bias. The gender pay
gap in the United States is among the largest of many
industrialized nations, and because women make up
nearly half our workforce, this disparity impacts us
all. The pay gap between men and women offends our
values as Americans, and as long as it exists, our
businesses, our communities, and our Nation will suffer
the consequences.

My Administration is dedicated to reaching a day in
which all women are paid equally for their work.
Earlier this year, the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, in partnership with the Department of
Labor, announced a new proposal to gather pay data by
race, ethnicity, and gender from businesses with at
least 100 employees. This will help businesses make
sure their employees are being treated equally, and it
will help us enforce existing equal pay laws. This
proposal originated in part with my National Equal Pay
Task Force, which has helped coordinate a Federal
effort to crack down on violations of equal pay laws.
Our Nation has taken significant steps toward achieving
pay equity over the last 7 years--from the first piece
of legislation I signed as President, the Lilly
Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which makes it easier for women
to challenge unequal pay, to my Executive Order
prohibiting Federal contractors from discriminating
against employees who discuss their compensation. But
much work remains to be done, which is why I continue
to call on the Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness
Act--a commonsense measure that would bolster the
ability of women to fight pay discrimination.

When all people know their country is invested in their
success, we are all better off. Together, we must rid
our society of the injustice that is pay discrimination
and restore the promise that is the right of every
American: the idea that with hard work, anyone can
reach for their dreams

and know no limits but the scope of their aspirations.
On National Equal Pay Day, we renew our belief in equal
pay for equal work, and we rededicate ourselves to
building a future in which women are paid based on
their merits.

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 12, 2016, 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
eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord two
thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and fortieth.