[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 52 (Thursday, March 17, 2022)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 15029-15030]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05797]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 52 / Thursday, March 17, 2022 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 15029]]


                Proclamation 10348 of March 14, 2022

                
National Equal Pay Day, 2022

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Equal pay is a matter of justice, fairness, and 
                dignity--it is about living up to our values and who we 
                are as a Nation. For over 25 years, Equal Pay Day has 
                helped draw attention to gender-based pay disparities 
                by highlighting how far into a new year a woman must 
                work, on average, to earn what a man did in the 
                previous year.

                This year, Equal Pay Day falls on March 15, the 
                earliest we have ever marked the occasion. The earlier 
                that Equal Pay Day arrives, the closer our Nation has 
                come to achieving pay fairness. But while we should 
                celebrate the progress we have made, as I have said in 
                the past, we should not be satisfied until Equal Pay 
                Day is no longer necessary at all.

                In 2020, the average woman working full-time, year-
                round, for wages or a salary earned 83 cents for every 
                dollar paid to their average male counterpart. And once 
                again, the disparities are even greater for Black, 
                Native American, Latina, and certain subpopulations of 
                Asian women when compared to white men. Disabled women 
                also continue to experience significant disparities and 
                make 80 cents for every dollar compared to men with 
                disabilities. The pay gap reflects outright 
                discrimination as well as barriers that women face in 
                accessing good-paying jobs and meeting caregiving 
                responsibilities--including a lack of affordable child 
                care, paid family and medical leave, and fair and 
                predictable scheduling--which often prevent women from 
                joining and staying in the workforce.

                Over the course of a career, the pay gap can add up to 
                hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost earnings, 
                particularly for women of color, significantly 
                impacting retirement savings and uniquely burdening 
                households led by single mothers.

                The Biden-Harris Administration has moved quickly to 
                deliver results for women and working families and to 
                dismantle the barriers that women face in the 
                workplace. In our first full year in office, we saw the 
                largest calendar year decline in unemployment. We also 
                saw the strongest economic growth in nearly 4 decades, 
                rising wages, and an estimated nearly 40 percent 
                decline in child poverty. We have turned the tide on 
                women's labor force participation, which the COVID-19 
                pandemic had pushed to a more than 30-year low. In 
                addition, my Administration has taken key steps to 
                address pay discrimination, including issuing an 
                Executive Order directing the Office of Personnel 
                Management to take appropriate steps to advance equal 
                pay at Federal agencies. And I have raised the minimum 
                wage for Federal contractors, which has significantly 
                benefitted women--especially women of color--who are 
                disproportionately represented in minimum-wage and low-
                wage jobs.

                We can be proud of that progress--but there is more we 
                need to do. My Administration is fighting to ensure 
                that women have the free and fair choice to organize 
                and collectively bargain for the wages and benefits 
                they deserve and to access training for good-paying 
                jobs in sectors where they have historically been 
                underrepresented. We are working to eliminate 
                anticompetitive barriers that keep women from 
                bargaining for better pay and demanding dignity and 
                respect in the workplace. I have continued to call

[[Page 15030]]

                on the Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, 
                which would help mitigate sex-based pay discrimination 
                while ensuring greater transparency and reporting of 
                disparities in wages. And I am continuing to work with 
                the Congress to pass critical legislation that would 
                lower the cost of child care, elder care, home-based 
                health care, and other major barriers to working 
                families, while raising compensation for care workers, 
                who are disproportionately women of color and who have 
                been underpaid and undervalued for far too long.

                If we are going to continue our record-breaking 
                recovery and build a truly strong and competitive 
                economy for the future, we have to address the barriers 
                that have long held women back from full participation 
                and fair treatment in the workforce. The founding 
                promise of our Nation is that all people are created 
                equal--and my Administration is committed to ensuring 
                that all Americans have a fair and equal opportunity to 
                get ahead, so that one day soon we can render Equal Pay 
                Day a relic of the past.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., 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 March 15, 
                2022, 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 
                fourteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-two, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                sixth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2022-05797
Filed 3-16-22; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F2-P